Organic compounds

ABSTRACT

Novel compounds that inhibit the binding of the Smac protein to Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins (IAPs) of the formula I

The present invention relates generally to novel compounds that inhibit the binding of the Smac protein to Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins (IAPs). The present invention includes novel compounds, novel compositions, methods of their use and methods of their manufacture, where such compounds are generally pharmacologically useful as agents in therapies whose mechanism of action rely on the inhibition of the Smac/IAP interaction, and more particularly useful in therapies for the treatment of proliferative diseases, including cancer.

BACKGROUND

Programmed cell death plays a critical role in regulating cell number and in eliminating stressed or damaged cells from normal tissues. Indeed, the network of apoptotic signaling mechanisms inherent in most cell types provides a major barrier to the development and progression of human cancer. Since most commonly used radiation and chemo-therapies rely on activation of apoptotic pathways to kill cancer cells, tumor cells which are capable of evading programmed cell death often become resistant to treatment.

Apoptosis signaling networks are classified as either intrinsic when mediated by death receptor-ligand interactions or extrinsic when mediated by cellular stress and mitochondrial permeabilization. Both pathways ultimately converge on individual Caspases. Once activated, Caspases cleave a number of cell death-related substrates, effecting destruction of the cell.

Tumor cells have devised a number of strategies to circumvent apoptosis. One recently reported molecular mechanism involves the overexpression of members of the IAP (Inhibitor of Apoptosis) protein family. IAPs sabotage apoptosis by directly interacting with and neutralizing Caspases. The prototype IAPs, XIAP and cIAP have three functional domains referred to as BIR 1, 2 & 3 domains. BIR3 domain interacts directly with Caspase 9 and inhibits its ability to bind and cleave its natural substrate, Procaspase 3.

It has been reported that a proapoptotic mitochondrial protein, Smac (also known as DIABLO), is capable of neutralizing XIAP and/or cIAP by binding to a peptide binding pocket (Smac binding site) on the surface of BIR3 thereby precluding interaction between XIAP and/or cIAP and Caspase 9. The present invention relates to therapeutic molecules that bind to the Smac binding pocket thereby promoting apoptosis in rapidly dividing cells. Such therapeutic molecules are useful for the treatment of proliferative diseases, including cancer. In other words, Smac analogs would bind to BIR3 domain of IAPs and will remove the IAP's inhibition of activated Caspase 9 which would then go on to induce apoptosis.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to novel compounds that inhibit the binding of the Smac protein to Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins (IAPs). The present invention includes novel compounds, novel compositions, methods of their use and methods of their manufacture, where such compounds are generally pharmacologically useful as agents in therapies whose mechanism of action rely on the inhibition of the Smac/IAP interaction, and more particularly useful in therapies for the treatment of proliferative diseases, including cancer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

present invention relates to compounds of the formula (I)

wherein

-   R₁is H; C₁-C₄ alkyl; C₁-C₄ alkenyl; C₁-C₄ alkynyl or     C₃-C₁₀cycloalkyl which are unsubstituted or substituted; -   R₂ is H; C₁-C₄ alkyl; C₁-C₄ alkenyl; C₁-C₄ alkynyl or     C₃-C₁₀cycloalkyl which are unsubstituted or substituted; -   R₃ is H; —CF₃; —C₂F₅; C₁-C₄ alkyl; C₁-C₄ alkenyl; C₁-C₄ alkynyl;     —CH₂-Z or R₂ and R₃ together with the nitrogen form a het ring; -   Z is H; —OH; F; Cl; —CH₃; —CF₃; —CH₂Cl; —CH₂F or —CH₂OH; -   R₄ is C₁-C₁₆ straight or branched alkyl; C₁-C₁₆ alkenyl; C₁-C₁₆     alkynyl; or —C₃-C₁₀cycloalkyl; —(CH₂)₁₋₆-Z₁; —(CH₂)₀₋₆-aryl; and     —(CH₂)₀₋₆-het; wherein alkyl, cycloalkyl and phenyl are     unsubstituted or substituted; -   Z₁ is —N(R₈)—C(O)—C₁-C₁₀alkyl; —N(R₈)—C(O)—(CH₂)₁₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl;     —N(R₈)—C(O)—(CH₂)₀₋₆-phenyl; —N(R₈)—C(O)—(CH₂)₁₋₆-het;     —C(O)—N(R₉)(R₁₀); —C(O)—O—C₁-C₁₀alkyl;     —C(O)—O—(CH₂)₁₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl; —C(O)—O—(CH₂)₀₋₆-phenyl;     —C(O)—O—(CH₂)₁₋₆-het; —O—C(O)—C₁-C₁₀alkyl;     —O—C(O)—(CH₂)₁₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl; —O—C(O)—(CH₂)₀₋₆-phenyl;     —O—C(O)—(CH₂)₁₋₆-het; wherein alkyl, cycloalkyl and phenyl are     unsubstituted or substituted; -   et is a 5-7 membered heterocyclic ring containing 1-4 heteroatoms     selected from N, O and S, or an 8-12 membered fused ring system     including at least one 5-7 membered heterocyclic ring containing 1,     2 or 3 heteroatoms selected from N, O, and S, which heterocyclic     ring or fused ring system is unsubstituted or substituted on a     carbon or nitrogen atom; -   R₈ is H; —CH₃; —CF₃; —CH₂OH or —CH₂Cl; -   R₉ and R₁₀ are each independently H; C₁-C₄alkyl; C₃-C₇cycloalkyl;     —(CH₂)₁₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl; —(CH₂)₀₋₆-phenyl; wherein alkyl,     cycloalkyl and phenyl are unsubstituted or substituted, or R₉ and     R₁₀ together with the nitrogen form het; -   R₅ is H; C₁-C₁₀-alkyl; aryl; phenyl; C₃-C₇cycloalkyl;     —(CH₂)₁₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl; —C₁-C₁₀alkyl-aryl;     —(CH₂)₀₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl-(CH₂)₀₋₆-phenyl;     —(CH₂)₀₋₄CH—((CH₂)₁₋₄-phenyl)₂; —(CH₂)₀₋₆—CH(phenyl)₂; -indanyl;     —C(O)—C₁-C₁₀alkyl; —C(O)—(CH₂)₁₋₆—C₃-C₇-cycloalkyl;     —C(O)—(CH₂)₀₋₆-phenyl; —(CH₂)₀₋₆—C(O)-phenyl; —(CH₂)₀₋₆-het;     —C(O)—(CH₂)₁₋₆-het; or R₅ is a residue of an amino acid, wherein the     alkyl, cycloalkyl, phenyl and aryl substituents are unsubstituted or     substituted;

U is as shown in structure II:

wherein

-   n=0-5; -   X is —CH or N; -   Ra and Rb are independently an O, S, or N atom or C₀₋₈ alkyl wherein     one or more of the carbon atoms in the alkyl chain may be replaced     by a heteroatom selected from O, S or N, and where the alkyl may be     unsubstituted or substituted; -   Rd is selected from:     -   (a) —Re-Q-(Rf)_(p)(Rg)_(q); or     -   (b) Ar₁-D-Ar₂; -   Rc is H or Rc and Rd may together form a cycloalkyl or het; where if     Rd and Rc form a cycloalkyl or het, R₅ is attached to the formed     ring at a C or N atom; -   p and q are independently 0 or 1; -   Re is C₁₋₈ alkyl or alkylidene, and Re which may be unsubstituted or     substituted; -   Q is N, O, S, S(O), or S(O)₂; -   Ar₁ and Ar₂ are substituted or unsubstituted aryl or het; -   Rf and Rg are each independently H; —C₁-C₁₀alkyl; C₁-C₁₀alkylaryl;     —OH; —O—C₁-C₁₀alkyl; —(CH₂)₀₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl; —O—(CH₂)₀₋₆-aryl;     phenyl; aryl; phenyl-phenyl; —(CH₂)₁₋₆-het; —O—(CH₂)₁₋₆-het; —OR₁₁;     —C(O)—R₁₁; —C(O)—N(R₁₁)(R₁₂); —N(R₁₁)(R₁₂); —S—R₁₁; —S(O)—R₁₁;     —S(O)₂—R₁₁; —S(O)₂—NR₁₁R₁₂; —NR₁₁—S(O)₂—R₁₂; S—C₁-C₁₀alkyl;     aryl-C₁-C₄alkyl; het-C₁-C₄-alkyl wherein alkyl, cycloalkyl, het and     aryl are unsubstituted or substituted; —SO₂₋C₁₋C₂alkyl;     —SO₂₋C₁₋C₂alkylphenyl; —O—C₁-C₄alkyl; or R_(g) and R_(f) form a ring     selected from het or aryl; -   D is —CO—; —C(O)—C₁₋₇ alkylene or arylene; —CF₂—; —O—; —S(O)_(r)     where r is 0-2; 1,3dioaxolane; or C₁₋₇ alkyl-OH; where alkyl,     alkylene or arylene may be unsubstituted or substituted with one or     more halogens, OH, —O—C₁-C₆alkyl, —S—C₁-C₆alkyl or —CF₃; or D is     —N(Rh) wherein Rh is H; C₁₋₇ alkyl (unsub or substituted); aryl;     —O(C₁₋₇cycloalkyl) (unsub or substituted); C(O)—C₁-C₁₀alkyl;     C(O)—C_(o)-C₁₀alkyl-aryl; C—O—C₁-C₁₀alkyl; C—O—C_(o)-C₁₀alkyl-aryl     or SO₂—C₁-C₁₀-alkyl; SO₂—(C_(o)-C₁₀-alkylaryl); -   R₆, R₇, R′₆ and R′₇ are each independently H; —C₁-C₁₀alkyl;     —C₁-C₁₀alkoxy; aryl-C₁-C₁₀ alkoxy; —OH; —O—C₁-C₁₀alkyl;     —(CH₂)₀₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl; —O—(CH₂)₀₋₆-aryl; phenyl; —(CH₂)₁₋₆-het;     —O—(CH₂)₁₋₆-het; —OR₁₁; —C(O)—R₁₁; —C(O)—N(R₁₁)(R₁₂); —N(R₁₁)(R₁₂);     —S—R₁₁; —S(O)—R₁₁; —S(O)₂—R₁₁; —S(O)₂—NR₁₁R₁₂; —NR₁₁—S(O)₂—R₁₂;     wherein alkyl, cycloalkyl and aryl are unsubstituted or substituted;     and R₆, R₇, R′₆ and R′₇ can be united to form a ring system; -   R₁₁ and R₁₂ are independently H; C₁-C₁₀ alkyl;     —(CH₂)₀₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl; —(CH₂)₀₋₆—(CH)₀₋₁(aryl)₁₋₂;     —C(O)—C₁-C₁₀alkyl; —C(O)—(CH₂)₁₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl;     —C(O)—O—(CH₂)₀₋₆-aryl; —C(O)—(CH₂)₀₋₆—O-fluorenyl;     —C(O)—NH—(CH₂)₀₋₆-aryl; —C(O)—(CH₂)₀₋₆-aryl; —C(O)—(CH₂)₁₋₆-het;     —C(S)—C₁-C₁₀alkyl; —C(S)—(CH₂)₁₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl;     —C(S)—O—(CH₂)₀₋₆-aryl; —C(S)—(CH₂)₀₋₆—O-fluorenyl;     —C(S)—NH—(CH₂)₀₋₆-aryl; —C(S)—(CH₂)₀₋₆-aryl; —C(S)—(CH₂)₁₋₆-het;     wherein alkyl, cycloalkyl and aryl are unsubstituted or substituted;     or R₁₁ and R₁₂ are a substituent that facilitates transport of the     molecule across a cell membrane; or R₁₁ and R₁₂ together with the     nitrogen atom form het; -   wherein the alkyl substituents of R₁₁ and R₁₂ may be unsubstituted     or substituted by one or more substituents selected from     C₁-C₁₀alkyl, halogen, OH, —O—C₁-C₆alkyl, —S—C₁-C₆alkyl or —CF₃; -   substituted cycloalkyl substituents of R₁₁ and R₁₂ are substituted     by one or more substituents selected from a C₁-C₁₀alkene;     C₁-C₆alkyl; halogen; OH; —O—C₁-C₆alkyl; —S—C₁-C₆alkyl or —CF₃; and -   substituted phenyl or aryl of R₁₁ and R₁₂ are substituted by one or     more substituents selected from halogen; hydroxy; C₁-C₄ alkyl; C₁-C₄     alkoxy; nitro; —CN; —O—C(O)—C₁-C₄alkyl and —C(O)—O—C₁-C₄-aryl, -   or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof.

The present invention also related to the use of compound of formula I in the treatment of proliferative diseases, especially those dependent on the binding of the Smac protein to Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins (IAPs), or for the manufacture of pharmaceutical compositions for use in the treatment of said diseases, methods of use of compounds of formula (I) in the treatment of said diseases, pharmaceutical preparations comprising compounds of formula (I) for the treatment of said diseases, compounds of formula (I) for use in the treatment of said diseases.

The general terms used hereinbefore and hereinafter preferably have within the context of this disclosure the following meanings, unless otherwise indicated:

“Aryl” is an aromatic radical having 6 to 14 carbon atoms, which may be fused or unfused, and which is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more, preferably one or two substituents, wherein the substituents are as described below. Preferred “aryl” is phenyl, naphthyl or indanyl.

“Het” refers to heteroaryl and heterocyclic rings and fused rings containing aromatic and non-aromatic heterocyclic rings. “Het” is a 5-7 membered heterocyclic ring containing 1-4 heteroatoms selected from N, O and S, or an 8-12 membered fused ring system including at least one 5-7 membered heterocyclic ring containing 1, 2 or 3 heteroatoms selected from N, O, and S. Suitable het substituents include unsubstituted and substituted pyrrolidyl, tetrahydrofuryl, tetrahydrothiofuranyl, piperidyl, piperazyl, tetrahydropyranyl, morphilino, 1,3-diazapane, 1,4-diazapane, 1,4-oxazepane, 1,4-oxathiapane, furyl, thienyl, pyrrole, pyrazole, triazole, 1,2,3-triazole, tetrazolyl, oxadiazole, thiophene, imidazol, pyrrolidine, pyrrolidone, thiazole, oxazole, pyridine, pyrimidine, isoxazolyl, pyrazine, quinoline, isoquinoline, pyridopyrazine, pyrrolopyridine, furopyridine, indole, benzofuran, benzothiofuran, benzindole, benzoxazole, pyrroloquinoline, and the like. The het substituents are unsubstituted or substituted on a carbon atom by halogen, especially fluorine or chlorine, hydroxy, C₁-C₄ alkyl, such as methyl and ethyl, C₁-C₄ alkoxy, especially methoxy and ethoxy, nitro, —O—C(O)—C₁-C₄alkyl or —C(O)—O—C₁-C₄alkyl or on a nitrogen by C₁-C₄ alkyl, especially methyl or ethyl, —O—C(O)—C₁-C₄alkyl or —C(O)—O—C₁-C₄alkyl, such as carbomethoxy or carboethoxy.

When two substituents together with a commonly bound nitrogen are het, it is understood that the resulting heterocyclic ring is a nitrogen-containing ring, such as aziridine, azetidine, azole, piperidine, piperazine, morphiline, pyrrole, pyrazole, thiazole, oxazole, pyridine, pyrimidine, isoxazolyl, and the like.

Halogen is fluorine, chlorine, bromine or iodine, especially fluorine and chlorine.

Unless otherwise specified “alkyl” includes straight or branched chain alkyl, such as methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, isopropyl, n-butyl, sec-butyl, tert-butyl, n-pentyl and branched pentyl, n-hexyl and branched hexyl, and the like.

A “cycloalkyl” group means C₃ to C₁₀cycloalkyl having 3 to 8 ring carbon atoms and may be, for example, cyclopropyl, cyclobutyl, cyclopentyl, cyclohexyl, cycloheptyl or cyclooctyl. Preferably, cycloalkyl is cycloheptyl. The cycloalkyl group may be unsubstituted or substituted with any of the substituents defined below, preferably halo, hydroxy or C₁-C₄ alkyl such as methyl.

The amino acid residues include a residue of a standard amino acid, such as alanine, arginine, asparagine, aspartic acid, cysteine, glutamine, glutamic acid, glycine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, proline, serine, threonine, tryptophan, tyrosine and valine. The amino acid residues also include the side chains of uncommon and modified amino acids. Uncommon and modified amino acids are known to those of skill in the art (see for example G. B. Fields, Z. Tiam and G Barany; Synthetic Peptides A Users Guide, University of Wisconsin Biochemistry Center, Chapter 3, (1992)) and include amino acids such as 4-hydroxyproline, 5-hydroxylysine, desmosine, beta-alanine, alpha, gamma- and beta-aminobutric acid, homocysteine, homoserine, citrulline, ornithine, 2- or 3-amino adipic acid, 6-aminocaproic acid, 2- or 3- aminoisobutric acid, 2,3-diaminopropionic acid, diphenylalanine, hydroxyproline and the like. If the side chain of the amino acid residue contains a derivatizable group, such as COOH, —OH or amino, the side chain may be derivatized by a substituent that reacts with the derivatizable group. For example, acidic amino acids, like aspartic and glutamic acid, or hydroxy substituted side chains, like those of serine or threonine, may be derivatized to form an ester, or amino side chains may form amide or alkylamino derivatives. In particular, the derivative may be a substituent that facilitates transport across a cell membrane. In addition, any carboxylic acid group in the amino acid residue, for example, an alpha carboxylic acid group, may be derivatized as discussed above to form an ester or amide.

Substituents that facilitate transport of the molecule across a cell membrane are known to those of skill in the medicinal chemistry arts (see, for example, Gangewar S., Pauletti G. M.,Wang B., Siahaan T. J., Stella V. J., Borchardt R. T., Drug Discovery Today, vol. 2. p 148-155 (1997) and Bundgaard H. and Moss J., Pharmaceutical Research, vol. 7, p 885 (1990)). Generally, such substituents are lipophillic substituents. Such lipophillic substituents include a C₆-C₃₀ alkyl which is saturated, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, including methylene-interrupted polyene, phenyl, phenyl which substituted by one or two C₁-C₈ alkyl groups, C₅-C₉ cycloalkyl, C₅-C₉ cycloalkyl which is substituted by one or two C₁-C₈ alkyl groups, —X₁-phenyl, —X₁-phenyl which is substituted in the phenyl ring by one or two C₁-C₈ alkyl groups, X₁—C₅-C₉ cycloalkyl or X₁—C₅-C₉ cycloalkyl which is substituted by one or two C₁-C₈ alkyl groups; where X₁ is C₁-C₂₄ alkyl which is saturated, monounsaturated or polyunsaturated and straight or branched chain.

Unsubstituted is intended to mean that hydrogen is the only substituent.

Any of the above defined aryl, het, alkyl, cycloalkyl, or heterocyclic groups may be unsubstituted or independently substituted by up to four, preferably one, two or three substituents, selected from the group consisting of: halo (such as Cl or Br); hydroxy; lower alkyl (such as C₁-C₃ lower alkyl); lower alkyl which may be substituted with any of the substituents defined herein; lower alkenyl; lower alkynyl; lower alkanoyl; alkoxy (such as methoxy); aryl (such as phenyl or benzyl); substituted aryl (such as fluoro phenyl or methoxy phenyl); amino; mono- or disubstituted amino; amino lower alkyl (such as dimethylamino); acetyl amino; amino lower alkoxy (such as ethoxyamine); nitro; cyano; cyano lower alkyl; carboxy; esterified carboxy (such as lower alkoxy carbonyl e.g. methoxy carbonyl); n-propoxy carbonyl or iso-propoxy carbonyl; alkanoyl; benzoyl; carbamoyl; N-mono- or N,N-disubstituted carbamoyl; carbamates; alkyl carbamic acid esters; amidino; guanidine; urea; ureido; mercapto; sulfo; lower alkylthio; sulfoamino; sulfonamide; benzosulfonamide; sulfonate; sulfanyl lower alkyl (such as methyl sulfanyl); sulfoamino; substituted or unsubstituted sulfonamide (such as benzo sulfonamide); substituted or unsubstituted sulfonate (such as chloro-phenyl sulfonate); lower alkylsulfinyl; phenylsulfinyl; phenyl-lower alkylsulfinyl; alkylphenylsulfinyl; lower alkanesulfonyl; phenylsulfonyl; phenyl-lower alkylsulfonyl; alkylphenylsulfonyl; halogen-lower alkylmercapto; halogen-lower alkylsulfonyl; such as especially trifluoromethane sulfonyl; phosphono (—P(═O)(OH)₂); hydroxy-lower alkoxy phosphoryl or di-lower alkoxyphosphoryl; substituted urea (such as 3-trifluoro-methyl-phenyl urea); alkyl carbamic acid ester or carbamates (such as ethyl-N-phenyl-carbamate) or —NR₄R₅, wherein R₄ and R₅ can be the same or different and are independently H; lower alkyl (e.g. methyl, ethyl or propyl); or R₄ and R₅ together with the N atom form a 3- to 8-membered heterocyclic ring containing 1-4 nitrogen, oxygen or sulfur atoms (e.g. piperazinyl, pyrazinyl, lower alkyl-piperazinyl, pyridyl, indolyl, thiophenyl, thiazolyl, n-methyl piperazinyl, benzothiophenyl, pyrrolidinyl, piperidino or imidazolinyl) where the heterocyclic ring may be substituted with any of the substituents defined herein.

Preferably the above mentioned alkyl, cycloalkyl, aryl or het groups may be substituted by halogen, carbonyl, thiol, S(O), S(O₂), —OH, —SH, —OCH₃, —SCH₃, —CN, —SCN or nitro.

Where the plural form is used for compounds, salts, pharmaceutical preparations, diseases and the like, this is intended to mean also a single compound, salt, or the like.

It will be apparent to one of skill in the art when a compound of the invention can exist as a salt form, especially as an acid addition salt or a base addition salt. When a compound can exist in a salt form, such salt forms are included within the scope of the invention. Although any salt form may be useful in chemical manipulations, such as purification procedures, only pharmaceutically acceptable salts are useful for pharmaceutically products.

Pharmaceutically acceptable salts include, when appropriate, pharmaceutically acceptable base addition salts and acid addition salts, for example, metal salts, such as alkali and alkaline earth metal salts, ammonium salts, organic amine addition salts, and amino acid addition salts, and sulfonate salts. Acid addition salts include inorganic acid addition salts such as hydrochloride, sulfate and phosphate, and organic acid addition salts such as alkyl sulfonate, arylsulfonate, acetate, maleate, fumarate, tartrate, citrate and lactate. Examples of metal salts are alkali metal salts, such as lithium salt, sodium salt and potassium salt, alkaline earth metal salts such as magnesium salt and calcium salt, aluminum salt, and zinc salt. Examples of ammonium salts are ammonium salt and tetramethylammonium salt. Examples of organic amine addition salts are salts with morpholine and piperidine. Examples of amino acid addition salts are salts with glycine, phenylalanine, glutamic acid and lysine. Sulfonate salts include mesylate, tosylate and benzene sulfonic acid salts.

In view of the close relationship between the compounds in free form and those in the form of their salts, including those salts that can be used as intermediates, for example in the purification or identification of the compounds, tautomers or tautomeric mixtures and their salts, any reference to the compounds hereinbefore and hereinafter especially the compounds of the formula I, is to be understood as referring also to the corresponding tautomers of these compounds, especially of compounds of the formula I, tautomeric mixtures of these compounds, especially of compounds of the formula I, or salts of any of these, as appropriate and expedient and if not mentioned otherwise.

Any asymmetric carbon atom may be present in the (R)-, (S)- or (R,S)-configuration, preferably in the (R)- or (S)-configuration. Substituents at a ring at atoms with saturated bonds may, if possible, be present in cis-(=Z-) or trans (=E-) form. The compounds may thus be present as mixtures of isomers or preferably as pure isomers, preferably as enantiomer-pure diastereomers or pure enantiomers.

Preferred embodiments according to the invention:

In the following preferred embodiments, general expression can be replaced by the corresponding more specific definitions provided above and below, thus yielding stronger preferred embodiments of the invention.

Preferred is the USE of compounds of the formula I or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof, where the disease to be treated is a proliferative disease depending on binding of the Smac protein to inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins (IAPS).

An embodiment of the present invention relates to compounds of the formula (I)

wherein

-   R, is H; C₁-C₄ alkyl; C₁-C₄ alkenyl; C₁-C₄ alkynyl or cycloalkyl     which are unsubstituted or substituted by one or more substituents     selected from halogen, —OH, —SH, —OCH₃, —SCH₃, —CN, —SCN and nitro; -   R₂ is H; C₁-C₄alkyl; C₁-C₄ alkenyl; C₁-C₄ alkynyl or cycloalkyl     which are unsubstituted or substituted by one or more substituents     selected from halogen, —OH, —SH, —OCH₃, —SCH₃, —CN, —SCN and nitro; -   R₃ is H; —CF₃; —C₂F₅; C₁-C₄ alkyl; C₁-C₄ alkenyl; C₁-C₄ alkynyl;     —CH₂-Z or R₂ and R₃ together with the nitrogen form a het; -   Z is H; —OH; F; Cl; —CH₃; —CF₃; —CH₂Cl; —CH₂F or —CH₂OH; -   R₄ is C₁-C₁₆ straight or branched alkyl; C₁-C₁₆ alkenyl; C₁-C₁₆     alkynyl; or —C₃-C₁₆ cycloalkyl; —(CH₂)₁₋₆-Z₁; —(CH₂)₀₋₆-phenyl; and     —(CH₂)₀₋₆-het, wherein alkyl, cycloalkyl and phenyl are     unsubstituted or substituted; -   Z₁ is —N(R₈)—C(O)—C₁-C₁₀alkyl; —N(R₈)—C(O)—(CH₂)₁₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl;     —N(R₈)—C(O)—(CH₂)₀₋₆-phenyl; —N(R₈)—C(O)—(CH₂)₁₋₆-het;     —C(O)—N(R₉)(R₁₀); —C(O)—O—C₁-C₁₀alkyl;     —C(O)—O—(CH₂)₁₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl; —C(O)—O—(CH₂)₀₋₆-phenyl;     —C(O)—O—(CH₂)₁₋₆-het; —O—C(O)—C₁-C₁₀alkyl;     —O—C(O)—(CH₂)₁₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl; —O—C(O)—(CH₂)₀₋₆-phenyl;     —O—C(O)—(CH₂)₁₋₆-het, wherein alkyl, cycloalkyl and phenyl are     unsubstituted or substituted; -   het is a 5-7 membered heterocyclic ring containing 1-4 heteroatoms     selected from N, O and S, or an 8-12 membered fused ring system     including at least one 5-7 membered heterocyclic ring containing 1,     2 or 3 heteroatoms selected from N, O, and S, which heterocyclic     ring or fused ring system is unsubstituted or substituted on a     carbon atom by halogen, hydroxy, C₁-C₄alkyl, C₁-C₄ alkoxy, nitro,     —O—C(O)—C₁-C₄alkyl or —C(O)—O—C₁-C₄-alkyl or on a nitrogen by C₁-C₄     alkyl, —O—C(O)—C₁-C₄alkyl or —C(O)—O—C₁-C₄alkyl; -   R₈ is H, —CH₃, —CF₃, —CH₂OH or —CH₂Cl; -   R₉ and R₁₀ are each independently H; C₁-C₄alkyl; C₃-C₇cycloalkyl;     —(CH₂)₁₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl; —(CH₂)₀₋₆-phenyl; wherein alkyl,     cycloalkyl and phenyl are unsubstituted or substituted, or R₉ and     R₁₀ together with the nitrogen form het; -   R₅ is H; C₁-C₁₀-alkyl; C₃-C₇cycloalkyl; —(CH₂)₁₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl;     —C₁-C₁₀alkyl-aryl; —(CH₂)₀₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl-(CH₂)₀₋₆-phenyl;     —(CH₂)₀₋₄CH—((CH₂)₁₋₄-phenyl)₂; —(CH₂)₀₋₆—CH(phenyl)₂;     —(CH₂)₀₋₆—C(O)phenyl-indanyl; aryl-C(O)—C₁-C₁₀alkyl;     —C(O)—(CH₂)₁₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl; —C(O)—(CH₂)₀₋₆-phenyl;     —(CH₂)₀₋₆-het; —C(O)—(CH₂)₁₋₆-het; or R₅ is a residue of an amino     acid, wherein alkyl, cycloalkyl, phenyl and aryl are unsubstituted     or substituted;

U is a as shown in structure II:

wherein

-   n=0-5; -   X is —CH or N; -   Ra and Rb are independently an O, S, or N atom or C₀₋₈ alkyl wherein     one or more of the carbon atoms in the alkyl chain may be replaced     by a heteroatom selected from O, S or N, and where the alkyl may be     unsubstituted or substituted; -   Rd is selected from:     -   (a) —Re-Q-(Rf)_(p)(Rg)_(q); or     -   (b) Ar₁-D-Ar₂; -   Rc is H or Rd and Rc together form cycloalkyl or het; where if Rd     and Rc form a cycloalkyl or heteroring, R₅ is attached to the formed     ring at a C or N atom; p and q are independently 0 or 1; -   Re is C₁₋₈ alkyl, or alkylidene, preferably methylidene, and Re may     be unsubstituted or substituted; -   Q is N, O, S, S(O), or S(O)₂; -   Ar₁ and Ar₂ are substituted or unsubstituted aryl or het; -   Rf and Rg are each independently H; —C₁-C₁₀ alkyl; C₁-C₁₀alkylaryl;     —OH; —O—C₁-C₁₀alkyl; —(CH₂)₀₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl; —O—(CH₂)₀₋₆-aryl;     phenyl; aryl; phenyl-phenyl; —(CH₂)₁₋₆-het; —O—(CH₂)₁₋₆-het; —OR₁₁;     —C(O)—R₁₁; —C(O)—N(R₁₁)(R₁₂); —N(R₁₁)(R₁₂); —S—R₁₁; —S(O)—R₁₁;     —S(O)₂—R₁₁; —S(O)₂—NR₁₁R₁₂; —NR₁₁—S(O)₂—R₁₂; S—C₁-C₁-alkyl;     aryl-C₁-C₄alkyl; het-C₁-C₄alkyl wherein alkyl, cycloalkyl, het and     aryl are unsubstituted or substituted; —SO₂₋C₁₋C₂alkyl;     —SO₂₋C₁₋C₂alkylphenyl; —O—C₁-C₄alkyl; or R_(g) and R_(f) form a ring     selected from het or aryl; -   D is —CO—; —C(O)—C₁₋₇ alkylene or arylene; —CF₂—; —O—; —S(O)_(r)     where r is 0-2; 1,3dioaxolane; or C₁₋₇ alkyl-OH; where alkyl,     alkylene or arylene may be unsubstituted or substituted with one or     more halogens, OH, —O—C₁-C₆alkyl, —S—C₁-C₆alkyl or —CF₃; or D is     —N(Rh) wherein Rh is H; C₁₋₇ alkyl (unsub or substituted); aryl;     —O(C₁₋₇cycloalkyl) (unsub or substituted); C(O)—C₁-C₁₀alkyl;     C(O)—C_(o)-C₁₀alkyl-aryl; C—O—C₁-C₁₀alkyl; C—O—C_(o)-C₁₀alkyl-aryl     or SO₂—C₁-C₁₀-alkyl; SO₂—(C_(o)-C₁₀-alkylaryl); -   R₆, R₇, R′₆ and R′₇ are each independently H; —C₁-C₁₀ alkyl; —C₁-C₁₀     alkoxy; aryl-C₁-C₁₀ alkoxy; —OH; —O—C₁-C₁₀alkyl;     —(CH₂)₀₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl; —O—(CH₂)₀₋₆-aryl; phenyl; —(CH₂)₁₋₆-het;     —O—(CH₂)₁₋₆-het; —OR₁₁; —C(O)—R₁₁; —C(O)—N(R₁₁)(R₁₂); —N(R₁₁)(R₁₂);     —S—R₁₁; —S(O)—R₁₁; —S(O)₂—R₁₁; —S(O)₂—NR₁₁R₁₂; —NR₁₁—S(O)₂—R₁₂;     wherein alkyl, cycloalkyl and aryl are unsubstituted or substituted;     and R₆, R₇, R′₆ and R′₇ can be united to form a ring system; -   R₁₁ and R₁₂ are independently H; C₁-C₁₀ alkyl;     —(CH₂)₀₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl; —(CH₂)₀₋₆—(CH)₀₋₁(aryl)₁₋₂;     —C(O)—C₁-C₁₀alkyl; —C(O)—(CH₂)₁₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl;     —C(O)—O—(CH₂)₀₋₆-aryl; —C(O)—(CH₂)₀₋₆—O-fluorenyl;     —C(O)—NH—(CH₂)₀₋₆-aryl; —C(O)—(CH₂)₀₋₆-aryl; —C(O)—(CH₂)₁₋₆-het;     —C(S)—C₁-C₁₀alkyl; —C(S)—(CH₂)₁₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl;     —C(S)—O—(CH₂)₀₋₆-aryl; —C(S)—(CH₂)₀₋₆—O-fluorenyl;     —C(S)—NH—(CH₂)₀₋₆-aryl; —C(S)—(CH₂)₀₋₆-aryl; —C(S)—(CH₂)₁₋₆-het;     wherein alkyl, cycloalkyl and aryl are unsubstituted or substituted;     or R₁₁ and R₁₂ are a substituent that facilitates transport of the     molecule across a cell membrane; or R₁₁ and R₁₂ together with the     nitrogen are het; aryl of R₁₁ and R₁₂ can be phenyl, naphthyl, or     indanyl which is unsubstituted or substituted; -   alkyl of R₁₁ and R₁₂ may be unsubstituted or substituted by one or     more substituents selected from a C₁-C₁₀ alkene, halogen, OH,     —O—C₁-C₆alkyl, —S—C₁-C₆alkyl and —CF₃; cycloalkyl of R₁₁ and R₁₂ may     be unsubstituted or substituted by one or more selected from a     C₁-C₁₀ alkene, one or more halogens, C₁-C₆alkyl, halogen, OH,     —O—C₁-C₆alkyl, —S—C₁-C₆alkyl or —CF₃; and -   phenyl or aryl of R₁₁ and R₁₂ may be unsubstituted or substituted by     one or more substituents selected from halogen, hydroxy, C₁-C₄     alkyl, C₁-C₄ alkoxy, nitro, —CN, —O—C(O)—C₁-C₄alkyl and     —C(O)—O—C₁-C₄-aryl; -   or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof.

A further embodiment the present invention relates to the use of compound of formula I in the treatment of proliferative diseases, especially those dependent on the binding of the Smac protein to Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins (IAPs), or for the manufacture of pharmaceutical compositions for use in the treatment of said diseases, methods of use of compounds of formula (I) in the treatment of said diseases, pharmaceutical preparations comprising compounds of formula (I) for the treatment of said diseases, compounds of formula (I) for use in the treatment of said diseases.

One embodiment of the present invention relates to compounds of the formula (I)

wherein

-   R₁ and R₂ are independently H or substituted or unsubstituted     C₁-C₄alkyl; -   R₄ is C₁-C₁₆ straight or branched alkyl, or C₃-C₁₀cycloalkyl,     wherein the alkyl or cycloalkyl may be unsubstituted or substituted; -   R₅ is H; C₁-C₁₀alkyl; C₁-C₁₀alkyl-aryl; —C(O)—(CH₂)₀₋₆-Phenyl;     —(CH₂)₀₋₆—C(O)-Phenyl; aryl; indanyl; naphthyl or R₅ is a residue of     an amino acid, wherein the alkyl or aryl substituents are     unsubstituted or substituted;

U is as shown in structure II:

wherein

-   n=0-5; -   X is —CH or N; -   Ra and Rb are independently an O, S, or N atom or C₀₋₈ alkyl wherein     one or more of the carbon atoms in the alkyl chain may be replaced     by a heteroatom selected from O, S or N, and where the alkyl may be     unsubstituted or substituted; -   Rd is selected from     -   (a) —Re-Q-(Rf)_(p)(Rg)_(q); or     -   (b) Ar₁-D-Ar₂; -   Rc is H or Rc and Rd together form cycloalkyl or het; where if Rd     and Rc form a cycloalkyl or heteroring, R₅ is attached to the formed     ring at a C or N atom; -   p and q are independently 0 or 1; -   Re is C₁₋₈ alkyl, or methylidene which may be unsubstituted or     substituted; -   Q is N, O, S, S(O), or S(O)₂; -   Ar₁ and Ar₂ are substituted or unsubstituted aryl or het; -   Rf and Rg are each independently H or substituted or unsubstituted     C₀-C₁₀alkyl; C₁-C₁₀alkylaryl; aryl-C₁-C₁₀alkyl; het-C₁-C₁₀alkyl     —C(O)—C₁-C₄-alkyl-phenyl; —C(O)—C₁-C₄-alkyl; —SO₂—C₁-C₂alkyl;     —SO₂—C₁-C₂alkylphenyl; —O—C₁-C₄-alky; -   D is —C(O)—; C₁₋₇ alkylene or arylene; —O—, or —S(O)_(r) where r is     0-2; where alkyl, alkylene or arylene which may be unsubstituted or     substituted with one or more halogens; —OH; —O—C₁-C₆alkyl;     —S—C₁-C₆alkyl or —CF₃; or D is NRh wherein Rh is H; C₁₋₇ alkyl     (unsubtituted or substituted); aryl; —OC₁₋₇ cycloalkyl     (unsubstituted or substituted); —CO—C₀₋₁₀ alkyl or aryl or     SO₂—C₀₋₁₀-alkyl or aryl; and R₆, R₇, R′₆ and R′₇ are each     independently H, —C₁-C₁₀ alkyl, or —OH, alkoxy, or aryloxy; -   or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof.

In a further embodiment, U is a bicyclic saturated or unsaturated ring system, consisting of all carbon skeleton or with one or more heteroatoms such as O, N, S but preferably as shown in structure III:

wherein

-   wherein any of the ring carbon atoms can be unsubstituted or     substituted with any of the substituted defined above for R₆, R₇, R₆     and R₇′; -   X is CH or N; -   V is O, F₂, Cl₂, Br₂, I₂, S, YH, H₂, NH, or C₁-C₄ alkyl; -   W is —CH, or —N; -   n is 0-3; and -   m is 0-3.

In a preferred embodiment the ring atoms may be substituted with subsituents independently selected from halo, H, OH, lower alkyl or lower alkoxy, wherein alkyl or alkoxy are unsubstituted or substituted by halogen, OH, lower alkyl or lower alkoxy.

In a further embodiment, U of formula II or III together with R₅ form a fused ring system.

Especially preferred is a compound of formula (I) wherein

-   R₁ and R₃ are preferably methyl or ethyl; -   R₂ is especially H; methyl; ethyl; chloromethyl; dichloromethyl or     trifluoromethyl; -   R₄ is —C₁-C₄alkyl; —C₃-C₇ cycloalky; —(CH₂)₁₋₆cycloalkyl; or     —(CH₂)₀₋₆aryl. R₄ is particularly ethyl; propyl; isopropyl; t-butyl;     cyclopentyl; or cyclohexyl; —CH₂-cyclopentyl; —CH₂-cyclohexyl or     —CH₂-phenyl. -   R₅ is —C₁-C₄alkyl-phenyl; —C(O)—C₁-C₄alkyl-phenyl;     —C₁-C₄alkyl-C(O)-pheny or aryl; R₅ is particularly phenylmethyl,     phenylethyl and phenylpropyl; indanyl, naphthyl; —C(O)—CH₂-phenyl or     —CH₂—C(O)-phenyl; -   R₆ and R₇ are H or methyl;

U has the structure of formula III:

wherein

-   wherein any of the ring carbon atoms can be unsubstituted or     substituted with any of the substituted defined above for R₆, R₇,     R_(6′) and R₇′; -   X is N; -   V is O or H₂; -   W is —N; -   n is 1; and -   m is 1 or 2.

Especially preferred is a compound of formula (I) wherein

-   R₁ and R₃ are preferably methyl or ethyl; -   R₂ is H; -   R₄ is C₁-C₄alkyl; C₃-C₇ cycloalkyl; C₁₋C₇ cycloalkyl-C₁₋C₇alkyl;     phenyl-C₁₋C₇alkyl or aryl. R₄ is particularly methyl; ethyl; butyl;     isopropyl; t-butyl; or cyclohexyl; —CH₂-cyclopentyl;     —CH₂-cyclohexyl; —CH₂-cyclopropyl; phenyl or —CH₂-phenyl; -   R₅ is —C₁-C₄alkyl-phenyl; —C(O)—C₁-C₄alkyl-phenyl;     —C₁-C₄alkyl-C(O)-pheny or aryl. R₅ is particularly phenylethyl;     indanyl, naphthyl; —C(O)—CH₂-phenyl; —CH₂—C(O)-phenyl or     (CF₃O)phenylethyl; -   R₆, R′₆, R₇ and R′₇ are H;

U has the structure of formula III wherein

-   wherein any of the ring carbon atoms can be unsubstituted or     substituted with any of the substituted defined above for R₆, R₇,     R_(6′) and R₇′; -   X is N; -   V is O or H₂; -   W is —N; -   n is 1; and -   m is 1 or 2.

Another embodiment is directed to a compound of formula (I) wherein

-   R₁ and R₃ are preferably methyl or ethyl; -   R₂ is especially H, methyl, ethyl, chloromethyl, dichloromethyl or     trifluoromethyl; -   R₄ is C₁-C₄alkyl or C₃-C₇ cycloalkyl particularly isopropyl,     t-butyl, cyclopentyl, or cyclohexyl; -   R₅ is H;

U has the structure of formula II wherein

-   X is N; -   R₆, R′₆, R₇, and R′₇ are H; -   n is O; -   Rc is H; -   Ar₁ and Ar₂ are substituted or unsubstituted phenyl or het     particularly tetrazolyl, 1,2,3-triazole, pyrazole, oxazole,     pyrrolyl, triazine, pyrimidine, imidazol, oxadiazol; and and D is C₁     alkyl which may optionally be substituted with halo, especially F.

Another embodiment is directed to a compound of formula (I) wherein

-   R₁ and R₃ are preferably methyl or ethyl; -   R₂ is especially H, methyl, ethyl, chloromethyl, dichloromethyl or     trifluoromethyl; -   R₄ is C₁-C₄alkyl; C₃-C₇ cycloalkyl; C₁-C₇cycloalkyl-C₁-C₇alkyl;     phenyl-C₁-C₇alkyl or aryl. R₄ is particularly methyl, ethyl, butyl,     isopropyl, t-butyl, or cyclohexyl; —CH₂-cyclopentyl,     —CH₂-cyclohexyl; —CH₂-cyclopropyl; phenyl or —CH₂-phenyl; -   R₅ is H;

U has the structure of formula II wherein

-   X is N; -   R₆, R′₆, R₇, and R′₇ are H; or R₆ is —C(O)—C₁-C₄alkyl-phenyl and     R′₆, R₇, and R′₇ are H; -   n is O; -   Rc is H; -   Ar₁ and Ar₂ are substituted or unsubstituted phenyl or het,     particularly triazine, pyrimidine, pyridine, oxazole,     2,4-difluorophenyl, Cl-phenyl or fluorophenyl; and D is N(Rh), where     Rh is H, Me, —CHO, —SO₂, —C(O), —CHOH, —CF₃ or —SO₂CH₃.

Another embodiment is directed to a compound of formula (I) wherein

-   R₁ and R₃ are preferably methyl or ethyl; -   R₂ is especially H, methyl, ethyl, chloromethyl, dichloromethyl or     trifluoromethyl; -   R₄ is C₁-C₄alkyl; C₃-C₇cycloalkyl; C₁₋C₇cycloalkyl-C₁₋C₇alkyl;     phenyl-C₁₋C₇alkyl or aryl. R₄ is particularly methyl, ethyl, butyl,     isopropyl, t-butyl, or cyclohexyl; —CH₂-cyclopentyl,     —CH₂-cyclohexyl; —CH₂-cyclopropyl; phenyl or —CH₂-phenyl; -   R₅ is H;

U has the structure of formula II wherein

-   X is N; -   R₆, R′₆, R₇, and R′₇ are H; -   n is O; -   Rc is H; -   Ar₁ and Ar₂ are substituted or unsubstituted phenyl or het     particularly pyrimidine, pyridine, oxazole, 2-methyloxazole; -   and D is —O—.

Another embodiment is directed to a compound of formula (I) wherein

-   R₁ and R₃ are preferably methyl or ethyl; -   R₂ is especially H, methyl, ethyl, chloromethyl, dichloromethyl or     trifluoromethyl; -   R₄ is C₁-C₄alkyl or C₃-C₇cycloalkyl particularly isopropyl, t-butyl,     cyclopentyl, or cyclohexyl; -   R₅ is H;

U has the structure of formula II wherein

-   X is N; -   R₆, R′₆, R₇, and R′₇ are H; -   n is O; -   Rc is H; -   Ar₁ and Ar₂ are substituted or unsubstituted phenyl or het; -   and D is S, S(O), or S(O)₂.

Another embodiment is directed to a compound of formula (I) wherein

-   R₁ and R₃ are preferably methyl or ethyl; -   R₂ is especially H, methyl, ethyl, chloromethyl, dichloromethyl or     trifluoromethyl; -   R₄ is C₁-C₄alkyl or C₃-C₇cycloalkyl particularly isopropyl, t-butyl,     cyclopentyl, or cyclohexyl; -   R₅ is H;

U has the structure of formula II wherein

-   X is N; -   R₆, R′₆, R₇, and R′₇ are H; -   n is O; -   Rc is H; -   Ar₁ and Ar₂ are substituted or unsubstituted phenyl or het,     particularly oxazole, thaizole and ozadiazole; -   and D is C(O), or 1,3-dioxolane.

Another embodiment is directed to a compound of formula (I) wherein

-   R₁ and R₃ are preferably methyl or ethyl; -   R₂ is especially H, methyl, ethyl, chloromethyl, dichloromethyl or     trifluoromethyl; -   R₄ is C₁-C₄alkyl or C₃-C₇cycloalkyl particularly isopropyl, t-butyl,     cyclopentyl, or cyclohexyl; -   R₅ is H or phenyl C₁-C₁₀alkyl such as phenylethyl;

U has the structure of formula II wherein

-   X is N; -   R₆, R′₆, R₇, and R′₇ are H; -   n is O; -   Rc and Rd are a heterocyclic ring, particularly pyrrolidine;     pyrrolidin-2-one; or pyrrolidin-3-one.

Another embodiment is directed to a compound of formula (I) wherein

-   R₁ and R₃ are preferably methyl or ethyl; -   R₂ is especially H, methyl, ethyl, chloromethyl, dichloromethyl or     trifluoromethyl; -   R₄ is C₁-C₄alkyl or C₃-C₇ cycloalkyl particularly isopropyl,     t-butyl, cyclopentyl, or cyclohexyl; -   R₅ is H, indanyl or phenyl;

U has the structure of formula II wherein

-   X is N; -   Q is O; -   R₆, R′₆, R₇, and R′₇ are H; -   n is O; -   Re is C₁ alkyl; and -   p and q are 0.

A further embodiment is directed to a compound of formula (I) wherein

-   R₁ and R₃ are preferably methyl or ethyl; -   R₂ is especially H, methyl, ethyl, chloromethyl, dichloromethyl or     trifluoromethyl; -   R₄ is C₁-C₄alkyl or C₃-C₇ cycloalkyl particularly isopropyl,     t-butyl, cyclopentyl, or cyclohexyl; -   R₅ is H, indanyl or phenyl;

U has the structure of formula II wherein

-   X is N; -   Q is N; -   R₆, R′₆, R₇, and R′₇ are H; -   n is O; -   Re is C₁ alkyl; and -   Rg is H C₁-C₈ alkyl, methyl, ethyl, hexyl, heptyl, octyl; or CH₂CF₃;     or aryl-C₁₋C₄ alkyl particularly phenylethyl, furanylethyl;     C₃-C₇cycloalkyl particularly cyclohexyl; ethylphenyl;     —C(O)—C₁-C₄alkyl-phenyl; —C(O)—C₁-C₄alkyl; —C₁-C₄alkyl-aryl     particularly —CH₂-phenyl; —CH₂-thiophene, —CH₂-furan,     —CH₂-pyrrolidinyl, —CH₂-imidazole, —CH₂-triazole; —CH₂-imidazole; -   and R_(f) is C₁-C₂ alkyl; C₁-C₂alkylphenyl; —SO₂—C₁-C₂alkyl;     —SO₂—C₁-C₂alkylphenyl; —O—C₁-C₄alkyl particularly O-ethyl;     phenyl-phenyl, 1,2,3,4-tetrahydronapthalene and indanyl.

A further embodiment is directed to a compound of formula (I) wherein

-   R₁ and R₃ are preferably methyl or ethyl; -   R₂ is especially H, methyl, ethyl, chloromethyl, dichloromethyl or     trifluoromethyl; -   R₄ is C₁-C₄alkyl or C₃-C₇ cycloalkyl particularly isopropyl,     t-butyl, cyclopentyl, or cyclohexyl; -   R₅ is H, indanyl or phenyl;

U has the structure of formula II wherein

-   X is N; -   Q is N; -   R₆, R′₆, R₇, and R′₇ are H; -   n is O; -   Re is C₁ alkyl; and -   R_(g) and R_(f) form a ring selected from het or aryl particularly     2,3,4,5-tetrahydrobenzo[c]azepine; 1,2,3,4 tetrahydroquinoline;     indanyl which may be substituted with C₁-C₄alkylphenyl

A further embodiment is directed to a compound of formula (I) wherein

-   R₁ and R₃ are preferably methyl or ethyl; -   R₂ is especially H, methyl, ethyl, chloromethyl, dichloromethyl or     trifluoromethyl; -   R₄ is C₁-C₄alkyl or C₃-C₇ cycloalkyl particularly isopropyl,     t-butyl, cyclopentyl, or cyclohexyl; -   R₅ is phenyl;

U has the structure of formula II wherein

-   X is N; -   is O, S, S(O) or S(O)₂; -   R₆, R′₆, R₇, and R′₇ are H; -   n is O; -   Re is C₁ alkyl; -   q is 0; -   Rc is H; -   and R_(f) is C₂ alkyl.

A further embodiment is directed to a compound of formula (I) wherein

-   R₁ and R₃ are preferably methyl or ethyl; -   R₂ is especially H, methyl, ethyl, chloromethyl, dichloromethyl or     trifluoromethyl; -   R₄ is C₁-C₄alkyl or C₃-C₇ cycloalkyl particularly isopropyl,     t-butyl, cyclopentyl, or cyclohexyl; -   R₅ is phenyl;

U has the structure of formula II wherein

-   X is N; -   Q is N; -   R₆, R′₆, R₇, and R′₇ are H; -   n is O; -   Re is CH; -   q is 0; -   Rc is H; -   and R_(f) is OC₁ alkyl.

In embodiments of the present invention, R₃ and R₄ have the stereochemistry indicated in formula IV, (the 4 possible enantionamers indicated by figure IV) with the definitions of the variable substituents and preferences described herein above also applying to compounds having the stereochemistry indicated in formula IV.

In parcularly important embodiment of the present invention, R₃ and R₄ have the stereochemistry indicated in formula IVa, with the definitions of the variable substituents and preferences described herein above also applying to compounds having the stereochemistry indicated in formula IVa.

Other enantionmers include:

Especially preferred is a compound with the stereochemistry of formula (IVa)

wherein

-   R₁ and R₃ are preferably methyl or ethyl; -   R₂ is H, methyl, ethyl, or substituted methyl especially     chloromethyl, dichloromethyl and trifluoromethyl; preferably R₂ is H     or unsubstituted methyl; -   R₄ is C₁-C₄alkyl or C₃-C₇ cycloalkyl particularly isopropyl,     t-butyl, cyclopentyl, or cyclohexyl; -   R₅ is —C₁-C₄-alkyl-phenyl, particularly phenylmethyl, phenylethyl     and phenylpropyl, indanyl, naphthyl; and -   R₆ and R₇ are H or methyl.

The preferred stereochemistry for U is as shown in Figure V

In a particular embodiment of the present invention, one or both of R₆, R₇, R_(6′), and R_(7′) is H. If one of R₆, R₇, R_(6′), and R_(7′) is other than H, it is especially hydroxyl or phenoxy.

Synthetic Procedure

Abbreviations:

-   CH₂Cl₂ methylene chloride -   CH₃CN acetonitrile -   DIBAL diisobutylaluminium hydride -   DIPEA diisopropylethylamine -   DME ethylene glycol dimethyl ether -   DMF N,N-dimethylformamide -   DTBB 4,4′-di-tert-butylbiphenyl -   EtOAc ethyl acetate -   HBTU O-benzyltriazol-1-yl-N,N,N′,N′-tetramethyluronium     hexafluorophosphate -   HOBt 1-hydroxhbenzotriazole -   HPLC high pressure liquid chromatography -   KOTMS potassium trimethysilanoate. -   MeOH methanol -   MgSO₄ magnesium sulfate -   MnO₂ manganese dioxide -   Na₂CO₃ sodium carbonate -   NaHCO₃ sodium bicarbonate -   NaOH sodium hydroxide -   Tetrakis tetrakis(triphenylphosphine)palladium(0) -   TFA trifluoroacetic acid -   THF tetrahydrofuran

The compounds of formula (I) may be prepared as depicted below in scheme 1 (for compound # 9-25, 29-31):

General synthesis scheme for compounds of formula 1 where W=N and X and X′ are independently selected from the subsituents defined above for R₆:

KOTMS is defined as potassium trimethysilanoate.

-   Step A: This step involves the formation of an aziridine ring via     standard base mediated conditions. -   Step B: This step involves the formation of a secondary amine via     the reaction of an alkyl bromide with excess amine in the presence     of a base. -   Step C: This step involves the coupling of a secondary amine with an     activated derivative of the aziridine methyl ester to form an amide     substituted aziridine. -   Step D: This step involves the intramolecular cycloaddition of the     aziridine to the tethered alkene through a thermally accessible     azomethine ylide intermediate. -   Step E: This step involves the reduction of the amide to an amine     via standard reduction conditions employing DIBAL-H. -   Step F: This step involves the removal of the benzylic protecting     group using standard palladium conditions under a hydrogen     atmosphere. -   Step G: This step involves coupling of the scaffold with a t-Boc     protected natural or unnatural amino acid using standard peptide     coupling conditions followed by the removal of the t-Boc group with     TFA. -   Step H: This step involves the coupling of the amine generated in     the preceding step with a t-Boc protected or tertiary natural or     unnatural amino acid using standard peptide coupling conditions     followed by the removal of the t-Boc group with TFA if applicable.     The product is then purified by high-performance liquid     chromatography (HPLC).

The compounds of formula (I) may be prepared as depicted below in scheme 2 (for compound # 26-28):

The compounds of formula (I) may be prepared as depicted below in scheme 3 (for compound # 32-33):

The compounds of formula (I) may be prepared as depicted below in scheme 4 (for compound # 34 35):

Compounds 36-38 can be prepared analogously to the preparation of compounds 34-35 according to Scheme 4.

As discussed above, the compounds of the present invention are useful for treating proliferative diseases. Thus, the present invention further relates to a method of treating a proliferative disease which comprises administering a therapeutically effective amount of a compound of the invention to a mammal, preferably a human, in need of such treatment.

A proliferative disease is mainly a tumor disease (or cancer) (and/or any metastases). The inventive compounds are particularly useful for treating a tumor which is a breast cancer, genitourinary cancer, lung cancer, gastrointestinal cancer, epidermoid cancer, melanoma, ovarian cancer, pancreas cancer, neuroblastoma, head and/or neck cancer or bladder cancer, or in a broader sense renal, brain or gastric cancer; in particular (i) a breast tumor; an epidermoid tumor, such as an epidermoid head and/or neck tumor or a mouth tumor; a lung tumor, for example a small cell or non-small cell lung tumor; a gastrointestinal tumor, for example, a colorectal tumor; or a genitourinary tumor, for example, a prostate tumor (especially a hormone-refractory prostate tumor); or (ii) a proliferative disease that is refractory to the treatment with other chemotherapeutics; or (iii) a tumor that is refractory to treatment with other chemotherapeutics due to multidrug resistance.

In a broader sense of the invention, a proliferative disease may furthermore be a hyperproliferative condition such as leukemias, hyperplasias, fibrosis (especially pulmonary, but also other types of fibrosis, such as renal fibrosis), angiogenesis, psoriasis, atherosclerosis and smooth muscle proliferation in the blood vessels, such as stenosis or restenosis following angioplasty.

Where a tumor, a tumor disease, a carcinoma or a cancer are mentioned, also metastasis in the original organ or tissue and/or in any other location are implied alternatively or in addition, whatever the location of the tumor and/or metastasis.

The inventive compound is selectively toxic or more toxic to rapidly proliferating cells than to normal cells, particularly in human cancer cells, e.g., cancerous tumors, the compound has significant antiproliferative effects and promotes differentiation, e.g., cell cycle arrest and apoptosis.

The compounds of the present invention may be administered alone or in combination with other anticancer agents, such as compounds that inhibit tumor angiogenesis, for example, the protease inhibitors, epidermal growth factor receptor kinase inhibitors, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor kinase inhibitors and the like; cytotoxic drugs, such as antimetabolites, like purine and pyrimidine analog antimetabolites; antimitotic agents like microtubule stabilizing drugs and antimitotic alkaloids; platinum coordination complexes; anti-tumor antibiotics; alkylating agents, such as nitrogen mustards and nitrosoureas; endocrine agents, such as adrenocorticosteroids, and rogens, anti-and rogens, estrogens, anti-estrogens, aromatase inhibitors, gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists and somatostatin analogues and compounds that target an enzyme or receptor that is overexpressed and/or otherwise involved a specific metabolic pathway that is upregulated in the tumor cell, for example ATP and GTP phosphodiesterase inhibitors, histone deacetylase inhibitors, protein kinase inhibitors, such as serine, threonine and tyrosine kinase inhibitors, for example, Abelson protein tryosine kinase and the various growth factors, their receptors and kinase inhibitors therefore, such as, epidermal growth factor receptor kinase inhibitors, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor kinase inhibitors, fibroblast growth factor inhibitors, insulin-like growth factor receptor inhibitors and platelet-derived growth factor receptor kinase inhibitors and the like; methionine aminopeptidase inhibitors, proteasome inhibitors, and cyclooxygenase inhibitors, for example, cyclooxygenase-1 or -2 inhibitors.

The present invention further relates to a method of promoting apoptosis in rapidly proliferating cells, which comprises contacting the rapidly proliferating cells with an effective apoptosis promoting amount of a non-naturally-occurring compound that binds to the Smac binding site of XIAP and/or cIAP proteins. Preferably, the non-naturally-occurring compound a compound of present formula I or IV.

The present invention further relates to a method of treating or inhibiting myeloma, especially multiple myeloma. The term “myeloma” as used herein relates to a tumor composed of cells of the type normally found in the bone marrow. The term “multiple myeloma” as used herein means a disseminated malignant neoplasm of plasma cells which is characterized by multiple bone marrow tumor foci and secretion of an M component (a monoclonal immunoglobulin fragment), associated with widespread osteolytic lesions resulting in bone pain, pathologic fractures, hypercalcaemia and normochromic normocytic anaemia. Multiple myeloma is incurable by the use of conventional and high dose chemotherapies. The invention relates to a method of treating myeloma, especially myeloma which is resistant to conventional chemotherapy.

Pharmaceutical Compositions

The invention relates also to pharmaceutical compositions comprising a compound of formula I, to their use in the therapeutic (in a broader aspect of the invention also prophylactic) treatment or a method of treatment of a kinase dependent disease, especially the preferred diseases mentioned above, to the compounds for said use and to pharmaceutical preparations and their manufacture, especially for said uses.

The present invention also relates to pro-drugs of a compound of formula I that convert in vivo to the compound of formula I as such. Any reference to a compound of formula I is therefore to be understood as referring also to the corresponding pro-drugs of the compound of formula I, as appropriate and expedient.

The pharmacologically acceptable compounds of the present invention may be present in or employed, for example, for the preparation of pharmaceutical compositions that comprise an effective amount of a compound of the formula I, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, as active ingredient together or in admixture with one or more inorganic or organic, solid or liquid, pharmaceutically acceptable carriers (carrier materials).

The invention relates also to a pharmaceutical composition that is suitable for administration to a warm-blooded animal, especially a human (or to cells or cell lines derived from a warm-blooded animal, especially a human, e.g. lymphocytes), for the treatment of (this, in a broader aspect of the invention, also includes the prevention of (=prophylaxis against)) a disease that responds to inhibition of protein kinase activity, comprising an amount of a compound of formula I or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, preferably which is effective for said inhibition, together with at least one pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.

The pharmaceutical compositions according to the invention are those for enteral, such as nasal, rectal or oral, or parenteral, such as intramuscular or intravenous, administration to warm-blooded animals (especially a human), that comprise an effective dose of the pharmacologically active ingredient, alone or together with a significant amount of a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. The dose of the active ingredient depends on the species of warm-blooded animal, the body weight, the age and the individual condition, individual pharmacokinetic data, the disease to be treated and the mode of administration.

The invention relates also to a method of treatment for a disease that responds to inhibition of a protein kinase and/or a proliferative disease, which comprises administering a (against the mentioned diseases) prophylactically or especially therapeutically effective amount of a compound of formula I according to the invention, or a tautomer thereof or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, especially to a warm-blooded animal, for example a human, that, on account of one of the mentioned diseases, requires such treatment.

The dose of a compound of the formula I or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof to be administered to warm-blooded animals, for example humans of approximately 70 kg body weight, preferably is from approximately 3 mg to approximately 10 g, more preferably from approximately 10 mg to approximately 1.5 g, most preferably from about 100 mg to about 1000 mg /person/day, divided preferably into 1-3 single doses which may, for example, be of the same size. Usually, children receive half of the adult dose.

The pharmaceutical compositions comprise from approximately 1% to approximately 95%, preferably from approximately 20% to approximately 90%, active ingredient. Pharmaceutical compositions according to the invention may be, for example, in unit dose form, such as in the form of ampoules, vials, suppositories, dragées, tablets or capsules.

The pharmaceutical compositions of the present invention are prepared in a manner known per se, for example by means of conventional dissolving, lyophilizing, mixing, granulating or confectioning processes.

Combinations

A compound of the formula I may also be used to advantage in combination with other antiproliferative agents. Such antiproliferative agents include, but are not limited to aromatase inhibitors; antiestrogens; topoisomerase I inhibitors; topoisomerase II inhibitors; microtubule active agents; alkylating agents; histone deacetylase inhibitors; compounds which induce cell differentiation processes; cyclooxygenase inhibitors; MMP inhibitors; mTOR inhibitors; antineoplastic antimetabolites; platin compounds; compounds targeting/decreasing a protein or lipid kinase activity and further anti-angiogenic compounds; compounds which target, decrease or inhibit the activity of a protein or lipid phosphatase; gonadorelin agonists; anti-androgens; methionine aminopeptidase inhibitors; bisphosphonates; biological response modifiers; antiproliferative antibodies; heparanase inhibitors; inhibitors of Ras oncogenic isoforms; telomerase inhibitors; proteasome inhibitors; agents used in the treatment of hematologic malignancies; compounds which target, decrease or inhibit the activity of Flt-3; Hsp90 inhibitors; temozolomide (TEMODAL®); and leucovorin.

The term “aromatase inhibitor” as used herein relates to a compound which inhibits the estrogen production, i.e. the conversion of the substrates androstenedione and testosterone to estrone and estradiol, respectively. The term includes, but is not limited to steroids, especially atamestane, exemestane and formestane and, in particular, non-steroids, especially aminoglutethimide, roglethimide, pyridoglutethimide, trilostane, testolactone, ketokonazole, vorozole, fadrozole, anastrozole and letrozole. Exemestane can be administered, e.g., in the form as it is marketed, e.g. under the trademark AROMASIN. Formestane can be administered, e.g., in the form as it is marketed, e.g. under the trademark LENTARON. Fadrozole can be administered, e.g., in the form as it is marketed, e.g. under the trademark AFEMA. Anastrozole can be administered, e.g., in the form as it is marketed, e.g. under the trademark ARIMIDEX. Letrozole can be administered, e.g., in the form as it is marketed, e.g. under the trademark FEMARA or FEMAR. Aminoglutethimide can be administered, e.g., in the form as it is marketed, e.g. under the trademark ORIMETEN. A combination of the invention comprising a chemotherapeutic agent which is an aromatase inhibitor is particularly useful for the treatment of hormone receptor positive tumors, e.g. breast tumors.

The term “antiestrogen” as used herein relates to a compound which antagonizes the effect of estrogens at the estrogen receptor level. The term includes, but is not limited to tamoxifen, fulvestrant, raloxifene and raloxifene hydrochloride. Tamoxifen can be administered, e.g., in the form as it is marketed, e.g. under the trademark NOLVADEX. Raloxifene hydrochloride can be administered, e.g., in the form as it is marketed, e.g. under the trademark EVISTA. Fulvestrant can be formulated as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,659,516 or it can be administered, e.g., in the form as it is marketed, e.g. under the trademark FASLODEX. A combination of the invention comprising a chemotherapeutic agent which is an antiestrogen is particularly useful for the treatment of estrogen receptor positive tumors, e.g. breast tumors.

The term “anti-androgen” as used herein relates to any substance which is capable of inhibiting the biological effects of androgenic hormones and includes, but is not limited to, bicalutamide (CASODEX), which can be formulated, e.g. as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,636,505.

The term “gonadorelin agonist” as used herein includes, but is not limited to abarelix, goserelin and goserelin acetate. Goserelin is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,100,274 and can be administered, e.g., in the form as it is marketed, e.g. under the trademark ZOLADEX. Abarelix can be formulated, e.g. as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,843,901.

The term “topoisomerase I inhibitor” as used herein includes, but is not limited to topotecan, gimatecan, irinotecan, camptothecian and its analogues, 9-nitrocamptothecin and the macromolecular camptothecin conjugate PNU-166148 (compound A1 in WO99/17804). Irinotecan can be administered, e.g. in the form as it is marketed, e.g. under the trademark CAMPTOSAR. Topotecan can be administered, e.g., in the form as it is marketed, e.g. under the trademark HYCAMTIN.

The term “topoisomerase II inhibitor” as used herein includes, but is not limited to the anthracyclines such as doxorubicin (including liposomal formulation, e.g. CAELYX), daunorubicin, epirubicin, idarubicin and nemorubicin, the anthraquinones mitoxantrone and losoxantrone, and the podophillotoxines etoposide and teniposide. Etoposide can be administered, e.g. in the form as it is marketed, e.g. under the trademark ETOPOPHOS. Teniposide can be administered, e.g. in the form as it is marketed, e.g. under the trademark VM 26-BRISTOL. Doxorubicin can be administered, e.g. in the form as it is marketed, e.g. under the trademark ADRIBLASTIN or ADRIAMYCIN. Epirubicin can be administered, e.g. in the form as it is marketed, e.g. under the trademark FARMORUBICIN. Idarubicin can be administered, e.g. in the form as it is marketed, e.g. under the trademark ZAVEDOS. Mitoxantrone can be administered, e.g. in the form as it is marketed, e.g. under the trademark NOVANTRON.

The term “microtubule active agent” relates to microtubule stabilizing, microtubule destabilizing agents and microtublin polymerization inhibitors including, but not limited to taxanes, e.g. paclitaxel and docetaxel, vinca alkaloids, e.g., vinblastine, especially vinblastine sulfate, vincristine especially vincristine sulfate, and vinorelbine, discodermolides, cochicine and epothilones and derivatives thereof, e.g. epothilone B or D or derivatives thereof. Paclitaxel may be administered e.g. in the form as it is marketed, e.g. TAXOL. Docetaxel can be administered, e.g., in the form as it is marketed, e.g. under the trademark TAXOTERE. Vinblastine sulfate can be administered, e.g., in the form as it is marketed, e.g. under the trademark VINBLASTIN R.P. Vincristine sulfate can be administered, e.g., in the form as it is marketed, e.g. under the trademark FARMISTIN. Discodermolide can be obtained, e.g., as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,010,099. Also included are Epothilone derivatives which are disclosed in WO 98/10121, U.S. Pat. No. 6,194,181, WO 98/25929, WO 98/08849, WO 99/43653, WO 98/22461 and WO 00/31247. Especially preferred are Epothilone A and/or B.

The term “alkylating agent” as used herein includes, but is not limited to, cyclophosphamide, ifosfamide, melphalan or nitrosourea (BCNU or Gliadel). Cyclophosphamide can be administered, e.g., in the form as it is marketed, e.g. under the trademark CYCLOSTIN. Ifosfamide can be administered, e.g., in the form as it is marketed, e.g. under the trademark HOLOXAN.

The term “histone deacetylase inhibitors” or “HDAC inhibitors” relates to compounds which inhibit the histone deacetylase and which possess antiproliferative activity. This includes compounds disclosed in WO 02/22577, especially N-hydroxy-3-[4-[[(2-hydroxyethyl)[2-(1H-indol-3-yl)ethyl]-amino]methyl]phenyl]-2E-2-propenamide, N-hydroxy-3-[4-[[[2-(2-methyl-1H-indol-3-yl)-ethyl]-amino]methyl]phenyl]-2E-2-propenamide and pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof. It further especially includes Suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA).

The term “antineoplastic antimetabolite” includes, but is not limited to, 5-Fluorouracil or 5-FU, capecitabine, gemcitabine, DNA demethylating agents, such as 5-azacytidine and decitabine, methotrexate and edatrexate, and folic acid antagonists such as pemetrexed. Capecitabine can be administered, e.g., in the form as it is marketed, e.g. under the trademark XELODA. Gemcitabine can be administered, e.g., in the form as it is marketed, e.g. under the trademark GEMZAR. Also included is the monoclonal antibody trastuzumab which can be administered, e.g., in the form as it is marketed, e.g. under the trademark HERCEPTIN.

The term “platin compound” as used herein includes, but is not limited to, carboplatin, cis-platin, cisplatinum and oxaliplatin. Carboplatin can be administered, e.g., in the form as it is marketed, e.g. under the trademark CARBOPLAT. Oxaliplatin can be administered, e.g., in the form as it is marketed, e.g. under the trademark ELOXATIN.

The term “compounds targeting/decreasing a protein or lipid kinase activity and further antiangiogenic compounds” as used herein includes, but is not limited to: protein tyrosine kinase and/or serine and/or threonine kinase inhibitors or lipid kinase inhibitors, e.g.:

-   a) compounds targeting, decreasing or inhibiting the activity of the     fibroblast growth factor-receptors (FGF-Rs); -   b) compounds targeting, decreasing or inhibiting the activity of the     insulin-like growth factor receptor I (IGF-IR), such as compounds     which target, decrease or inhibit the activity of IGF-IR, especially     compounds which inhibit the IGF-IR receptor, such as those compounds     disclosed in WO 02/092599; -   c) compounds targeting, decreasing or inhibiting the activity of the     Trk receptor tyrosine kinase family; -   d) compounds targeting, decreasing or inhibiting the activity of the     Axl receptor tyrosine kinase family; -   e) compounds targeting, decreasing or inhibiting the activity of the     c-Met receptor; -   f) compounds targeting, decreasing or inhibiting the activity of     members of the protein kinase C (PKC) and Raf family of     serine/threonine kinases, members of the MEK, SRC, JAK, FAK, PDK and     Ras/MAPK family members, or PI(3) kinase family, or of the     PI(3)-kinase-related kinase family, and/or members of the     cyclin-dependent kinase family (CDK) and are especially those     staurosporine derivatives disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,093,330, e.g.     midostaurin; examples of further compounds include e.g. UCN-01,     safingol, BAY 43-9006, Bryostatin 1, Perifosine; Ilmofosine; RO     318220 and RO 320432; GO 6976; Isis 3521; LY333531/LY379196;     isochinoline compounds such as those disclosed in WO 00/09495; FTIs;     PD184352 or QAN697 (a P13K inhibitor); -   g) compounds targeting, decreasing or inhibiting the activity of a     protein-tyrosine kinase, such as imatinib mesylate (GLIVEC/GLEEVEC)     or tyrphostin. A tyrphostin is preferably a low molecular weight     (Mr<1500) compound, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof,     especially a compound selected from the benzylidenemalonitrile class     or the S-arylbenzenemalonirile or bisubstrate quinoline class of     compounds, more especially any compound selected from the group     consisting of Tyrphostin A23/RG-50810; AG 99; Tyrphostin AG 213;     Tyrphostin AG 1748; Tyrphostin AG 490; Tyrphostin B44; Tyrphostin     B44 (+) enantiomer; Tyrphostin AG 555; AG 494; Tyrphostin AG 556,     AG957 and adaphostin (4-{[(2,5-dihydroxyphenyl)methyl]amino}-benzoic     acid adamantyl ester; NSC 680410, adaphostin); and -   h) compounds targeting, decreasing or inhibiting the activity of the     epidermal growth factor family of receptor tyrosine kinases (EGF-R,     ErbB2, ErbB3, ErbB4 as homo- or heterodimers), such as compounds     which target, decrease or inhibit the activity of the epidermal     growth factor receptor family are especially compounds, proteins or     antibodies which inhibit members of the EGF receptor tyrosine kinase     family, e.g. EGF receptor, ErbB2, ErbB3 and ErbB4 or bind to EGF or     EGF related ligands, and are in particular those compounds, proteins     or monoclonal antibodies generically and specifically disclosed in     WO 97/02266, e.g. the compound of ex. 39, or in EP 0 564 409, WO     99/03854, EP 0520722, EP 0 566 226, EP 0 787 722, EP 0 837 063, U.S.     Pat. No. 5,747,498, WO 98/10767, WO 97/30034, WO 97/49688, WO     97/38983 and, especially, WO 96/30347 (e.g. compound known as CP     358774), WO 96/33980 (e.g. compound ZD 1839) and WO 95/03283 (e.g.     compound ZM105180); e.g. trastuzumab (HERCEPTIN), cetuximab, Iressa,     Tarceva, CI-1033, EKB-569, GW-2016, E1.1, E2.4, E2.5, E6.2, E6.4,     E2.11, E6.3 or E7.6.3, and 7H-pyrrolo-[2,3-d]pyrimidine derivatives     which are disclosed in WO 03/013541.

Further anti-angiogenic compounds include compounds having another mechanism for their activity, e.g. unrelated to protein or lipid kinase inhibition e.g. thalidomide (THALOMID) and TNP-470.

Compounds which target, decrease or inhibit the activity of a protein or lipid phosphatase are e.g. inhibitors of phosphatase 1, phosphatase 2A, PTEN or CDC25, e.g. okadaic acid or a derivative thereof.

Compounds which induce cell differentiation processes are e.g. retinoic acid, α- γ- or δ-tocopherol or α- γ- or δ-tocotrienol.

The term “cyclooxygenase inhibitor” as used herein includes, but is not limited to, e.g. Cox-2 inhibitors, 5-alkyl substituted 2-arylaminophenylacetic acid and derivatives, such as celecoxib (CELEBREX), rofecoxib (VIOXX), etoricoxib, valdecoxib or a 5-alkyl-2-aryl-aminophenylacetic acid, e.g. 5-methyl-2-(2′-chloro-6′-fluoroanilino)phenyl acetic acid, lumiracoxib.

The term “mTOR inhibitors” relates to compounds which inhibit the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and which possess antiproliferative activity such as sirolimus (Rapamune®), everolimus (Certican™), CCI-779 and ABT578.

The term “bisphosphonates” as used herein includes, but is not limited to, etridonic, clodronic, tiludronic, pamidronic, alendronic, ibandronic, risedronic and zoledronic acid. “Etridonic acid” can be administered, e.g., in the form as it is marketed, e.g. under the trademark DIDRONEL. “Clodronic acid” can be administered, e.g., in the form as it is marketed, e.g. under the trademark BONEFOS. “Tiludronic acid” can be administered, e.g., in the form as it is marketed, e.g. under the trademark SKELID. “Pamidronic acid” can be administered, e.g. in the form as it is marketed, e.g. under the trademark AREDIA™. “Alendronic acid” can be administered, e.g., in the form as it is marketed, e.g. under the trademark FOSAMAX. “Ibandronic acid” can be administered, e.g., in the form as it is marketed, e.g. under the trademark BONDRANAT. “Risedronic acid” can be administered, e.g., in the form as it is marketed, e.g. under the trademark ACTONEL. “Zoledronic acid” can be administered, e.g. in the form as it is marketed, e.g. under the trademark ZOMETA.

The term “heparanase inhibitor” as used herein refers to compounds which target, decrease or inhibit heparin sulphate degradation. The term includes, but is not limited to, PI-88.

The term “biological response modifier” as used herein refers to a lymphokine or interferons, e.g. interferon γ.

The term “inhibitor of Ras oncogenic isoforms”, e.g. H-Ras, K-Ras, or N-Ras, as used herein refers to compounds which target, decrease or inhibit the oncogenic activity of Ras e.g. a “farnesyl transferase inhibitor”, e.g. L-744832, DK8G557 or R115777 (Zarnestra).

The term “telomerase inhibitor” as used herein refers to compounds which target, decrease or inhibit the activity of telomerase. Compounds which target, decrease or inhibit the activity of telomerase are especially compounds which inhibit the telomerase receptor, e.g. telomestatin.

The term “methionine aminopeptidase inhibitor” as used herein refers to compounds which target, decrease or inhibit the activity of methionine aminopeptidase. Compounds which target, decrease or inhibit the activity of methionine aminopeptidase are e.g. bengamide or a derivative thereof.

The term “proteasome inhibitor” as used herein refers to compounds which target, decrease or inhibit the activity of the proteasome. Compounds which target, decrease or inhibit the activity of the proteasome include e.g. PS-341 and MLN 341.

The term “matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor” or (“MMP inhibitor”) as used herein includes, but is not limited to collagen peptidomimetic and nonpeptidomimetic inhibitors, tetracycline derivatives, e.g. hydroxamate peptidomimetic inhibitor batimastat and its orally bioavailable analogue marimastat (BB-2516), prinomastat (AG3340), metastat (NSC 683551) BMS-279251, BAY 12-9566, TAA211, MMI270B orAAJ996.

The term “agents used in the treatment of hematologic malignancies” as used herein includes, but is not limited to FMS-like tyrosine kinase inhibitors e.g. compounds targeting, decreasing or inhibiting the activity of Flt-3; interferon, 1-b-D-arabinofuransylcytosine (ara-c) and bisulfan; and ALK inhibitors e.g. compounds which target, decrease or inhibit anaplastic lymphoma kinase.

The term “compounds which target, decrease or inhibit the activity of Flt-3” are especially compounds, proteins or antibodies which inhibit Flt-3, e.g. PKC412, midostaurin, a staurosporine derivative, SU11248 and MLN518.

The term “HSP90 inhibitors” as used herein includes, but is not limited to, compounds targeting, decreasing or inhibiting the intrinsic ATPase activity of HSP90; degrading, targeting, decreasing or inhibiting the HSP90 client proteins via the ubiquitin proteasome pathway. Compounds targeting, decreasing or inhibiting the intrinsic ATPase activity of HSP90 are especially compounds, proteins or antibodies which inhibit the ATPase activity of HSP90 e.g., 17-allylamino, 17-demethoxygeldanamycin (17AAG), a geldanamycin derivative; other geldanamycin related compounds; radicicol and HDAC inhibitors.

The term “antiproliferative antibodies” as used herein includes, but is not limited to trastuzumab (Herceptin™), Trastuzumab-DM1, erlotinib (Tarceva ™), bevacizumab (Avastin™), rituximab (Rituxan®), PRO64553 (anti-CD40) and 2C4 Antibody. By antibodies is meant e.g. intact monoclonal antibodies, polyclonal antibodies, multispecific antibodies formed from at least 2 intact antibodies, and antibodies fragments so long as they exhibit the desired biological activity.

For the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), compounds of formula I can be used in combination with standard leukemia therapies, especially in combination with therapies used for the treatment of AML. In particular, compounds of formula I can be administered in combination with e.g. farnesyl transferase inhibitors and/or other drugs useful for the treatment of AML, such as Daunorubicin, Adriamycin, Ara-C, VP-16, Teniposide, Mitoxantrone, Idarubicin, Carboplatinum and PKC412.

The structure of the active agents identified by code nos., generic or trade names may be taken from the actual edition of the standard compendium “The Merck Index” or from databases, e.g. Patents International (e.g. IMS World Publications).

The above-mentioned compounds, which can be used in combination with a compound of the formula I, can be prepared and administered as described in the art such as in the documents cited above.

A compound of the formula I may also be used to advantage in combination with known therapeutic processes, e.g., the administration of hormones or especially radiation.

A compound of formula I may in particular be used as a radiosensitizer, especially for the treatment of tumors which exhibit poor sensitivity to radiotherapy.

By “combination”, there is meant either a fixed combination in one dosage unit form, or a kit of parts for the combined administration where a compound of the formula I and a combination partner may be administered independently at the same time or separately within time intervals that especially allow that the combination partners show a cooperative, e.g. synergistic, effect, or any combination thereof.

EXAMPLES

The following examples are intended to illustrate, but not further limit, the invention.

Example 1 N-[1-cyclohexyl-2-oxo-2-(6-phenethyl-octahydro-pyrrolo[2,3-c]pyridin-1-yl)-ethyl]-2-methylamino-propionamide (9)

Compound 9 according to Formula I is prepared according to the procedure set forth in Scheme 5.

1-(1-Naphthalen-1-yl-ethyl)-aziridine-2-carboxylic acid methyl ester (1). To a solution of (S)-(−)-1-(1-naphthyl)ethylamine (20.8 g, 120 mmol) in acetonitrile (HPLC grade, 600 mL) is added K₂CO₃ (52.7 g, 360 mmol) and methyl 2,3-dibromopropionate (30 g, 120 mmol). The solution is stirred overnight at room temperature. The solution is evaporated to dryness, then H₂O/EtOAc (1:1) (600 mL) is added, and the mixture is extracted with EtOAc (4×100 mL). The organic extracts are combined, dried and concentrated under vacuum. The residue is purified by flash chromatography (silica gel; Hexane/EtOAc 1:2) to provide 24 g (78%) of the title compound as a mixture of two diastereomers in an equimolecular ratio. M+H⁺=256.10.

But-3-enyl-phenethyl-amine (2). To a solution of 2-phenylethylamine (72 mL, 570 mmol) is added K₂CO₃ (82 g, 570 mmol) and 4-bromo-1-butene (25 g, 185 mmol). The solution is stirred overnight at room temperature. The solution is evaporated to dryness and H₂O/EtOAc (1:1) (600 mL) is added. The mixture is extracted with EtOAc (4×150 mL). The organic extracts are combined, dried and concentrated under vacuum. The residue is purified by flash chromatography (silica gel; Hexane/EtOAc 1:8) to provide 20 g (62%) of the title compound. M+H⁺=176.10.

1-(1-Naphthalen-1-yl-ethyl)-aziridine-2-carboxylic acid but-3-enyl-phenethyl-amide (3). To a solution of 1 (12.6 g, 49.75 mmol) in THF (200 mL) is added KOTMS (6.38 g, 49.75 mmol). The mixture is stirred overnight at room temperature. The mixture is concentrated and the residue dissolved in dichloromethane (200 mL) and cooled to 0° C. Trimethylacetyl chloride (5.94 g, 49.25 mmol) is added slowly and the mixture is warmed to room temperature over 2 hours. The mixture is cooled to −78° C., 2 (8.63 g, 49.25 mmol) is added and stirring continued at −78° C. for 1.5 h. Saturated sodium bicarbonate (100 mL) is added and the mixture is allowed to warm to rt. The mixture is extracted with EtOAc (4×100 mL) and the organic extracts are combined, dried and concentrated under vacuum. The residue is purified by flash chromatography (silica gel; Hexane/EtOAc 1:8) to provide 15 g (76%) of the title compound as a mixture of two diastereomers in an equimolecular ratio. M+H⁺=399.37.

1-(1-Naphthalen-1-yl-ethyl)-6-phenethyl-octahydro-pyrrolo[2,3-c]pyridin-7-one (4). A solution of 3 (15 g, 58.7 mmol) in o-dichlorobenzene (100 mL) is heated at 250° C. for 1200 s in a microwave reactor. The mixture is purified by flash chromatography (silica gel; Hexane/EtOAc 1:1; second spot) to provide 5 g (33%) of the title compound as an enantiomerically pure compound. M+H⁺=399.32.

1-(1-Naphthalen-1-yl-ethyl)-6-phenethyl-octahydro-pyrrolo[2,3-c]pyridine (5). To a solution of 4 (4.8 g, 12 mmol) in THF (100 mL) is added slowly 1 M DIBAL in toluene, (50 mL, 50 mmol) at −78° C. The mixture is stirred at room temperature for 1 hour and quenched with 20 mL of water. The solvent is evaporated, the residue is diluted with 100 mL of 1:1 saturated Rochells salt/15% NaOH, and this extracted with EtOAc (4×50 mL). The organic extracts are combined, dried and concentrated under vacuum. The residue is purified by flash chromatography (silica gel; Hexane/EtOAc 1:9) to provide 2.3 g (48%) of the title compound. M+H⁺=385.26.

6-Phenethyl-octahydro-pyrrolo[2,3-c]pyridine (6). To a solution of 5 (2.3 g, 6 mmol) in MeOH/CH₂Cl₂(1:1; 200 mL) is added Pd(OH)₂(300 mg). The mixture is agitated under 50 psi. hydrogen atmosphere for 10 h. The mixture is filtered through a celite pad, the filtrate is concentrated and the residue is used directly in the next step without further purification. M+H⁺=231.17.

Compound (7). To a solution of 6 in dichloromethane (25 mL) is added sequentially diisopropylethylamine (4.17 mL, 24 mmol), t-Boc-L-cyclohexylglycine (1.54 g, 6 mmol), and a solution of 0.45 M HOBt/HBTU in DMF (16 mL, 7.19 mmol). The mixture is stirred overnight at room temperature, then diluted with EtOAc (200 mL) and washed sequentially with 1 M aq. citric acid (50 mL), water (50 mL), aq. Sat. NaHCO₃ (50 mL) and brine (2×50 mL). The organic layer is dried and concentrated under vacuum. The residue is purified by flash chromatography (silica gel; Hexane/EtOAc 1:9) to provide a yellow oil. The yellow oil is dissolved in dichloromethane (20 mL), TFA (10 mL) is added and the mixture is stirred at room temperature for 3 h. The mixture is concentrated and the residue is dissolved in dichloromethane (100 mL) and neutralized with saturated sodium bicarbonate. The solution is extracted with dichloromethane (3×50 mL). The organic extracts are combined, dried and concentrated under vacuum to provide 1.75 g (79% two steps) of the title compound which is used in next step without further purification or characterization.

Compound (9). To a solution of 7 (1.75 g, 4.74 mmol) in dichloromethane (25 mL) is added sequentially diisopropylethylamine (3.30 mL, 19 mmol), t-Boc-N-methyl-L-alanine (0.97 g, 4.74 mmol), and a solution of 0.45 M HOBt/HBTU in DMF (13 mL, 5.691 mmol). The mixture is stirred overnight at room temperature. The mixture is diluted with EtOAc (200 mL) and washed sequentially with 1 M citric acid (50 mL), water (50 mL), aq. Sat. NaHCO₃ (50 mL) and brine (2×50 mL). The organic layer is dried and concentrated under vacuum. The residue is dissolved in dichloromethane (20 mL), TFA (10 mL) is added and the mixture is stirred at room temperature for 3 hours. The mixture is concentrated and the residue is dissolved in dichloromethane (100 mL) and neutralized with saturated sodium bicarbonate. The solution is extracted with dichloromethane (3×50 mL). The organic extracts are combined, dried and concentrated under vacuum. The residue is purified by HPLC (C-18 silica gel, 20% CH₃CN/H₂O in 0.5% TFA) to provide 1 g (36% two steps) of the title compound as TFA salt. M+H⁺=455.39.

Example 2 (S)-N-((S)-1-Cyclohexyl-2-{(2S,3R)-2-[(ethyl-phenethyl-amino)-methyl]-3-methyl-pyrrolidin-1-yl}-2-oxo-ethyl)-2-methylamino-propionamide (23)

But-3-enyl-((S)-1-phenyl-ethyl)-amine (A): To a solution of S-(−)-1-phenyl ethylamine (15.75 g, 130 mmol) in 150 mL of DMF at 0° C. is added K₂CO₃ (53.9 g, 390 mmol) in small portions. After stirring at 0° C. for 10 min, 4-bromobutene (13.5 g, 100 mmol) is added dropwise and followed by Nal (58.5 g, 390 mmol) in small portions. The reaction mixture, a white suspension, is heated to 95° C. and stirred overnight/16 hrs. The solution is cooled to RT and diluted with 200 mL of ether, and washed with 3×100 ml of water. The organic layer is dried over Na₂SO₄ and concentrated. The crude product is purified by distillation (65˜70° C. under high vacuum) to yield a colorless liquid(13.5 g, 76.7%). (NMR and MS data confirmed, U-4117-28-23).

[But-3-enyl-((S)-1-phenyl-ethyl)-amino]-acetic acid ethyl ester (B): To a solution of But-3-enyl-((S)-1-phenyl-ethyl)-amine (6.37 g, 36.4 mmol) in 150 mL of DMF at 0° C. is added K₂CO₃ (10.0 g, 72.8 mmol) in small portions. After stirring at 0° C. for 10 min, ethylbromoacetate (8.35 g, 54.6 mmol) izs added slowly. The reaction mixture, a white suspension, is stirred at r.t. overnight/16 hrs. The solution is diluted with 200 mL of ether, and washed with 3×100 ml of water. The crude product is purified by chromatography (hexane/CH₂Cl₂: 50/50) to give a pale liquid(8.5 g, 94.5%). (NMR and MS data confirmed, U-4117-58).

(2S,3R)-3-But-3-enyl-1-((S)-1-phenyl-ethyl)-pyrrolidine-2-carboxylic acid ethyl ester (C): To a solution of diisopropylamine(3.6 g, 35.7 mmol) in THF(80 mL) at −40° C. is added BuLi(14.28 mL, 35.7 mmol, 2.5 M in hexane) slowly. The solution is warmed to 0° C. and stirred for 30 min to form an LDA solution. The LDA solution is cooled to −70° C. and added to a solution of [But-3-enyl-((S)-1-phenyl-ethyl)-amino]-acetic acid ethyl ester(7.8 g, 29.8 mmol) in THF (80 mL) slowly at −70° C. The light yellowish reaction solution is stirred at −20° C. for 30 min to become a deep yellow solution, and then cooled to −70° C. To the solution is added **ZnBr₂**(16.76 g, 74.5 mmol) in ether (50 mL) dropwise at −70° C. After stirring at RT for 1.5 hrs, the reaction solution is cooled to 0° C. and added a solution of CuCN(3.47 g, 38.74 mmol) and LiCl(3.29 g, 77.48 mmol) in THF(80 mL) slowly. After stirring at 0° C. for 10 min, allyl bromide(7.26 g, 60 mmol) is added dropwise to the reaction solution, and warmed very slowly to r.t. After stirring overnight at r.t., the reaction is quenched by addition of 60 mL of saturated NH₄Cl and extracted with 3×150 mL of ether. The combined organic layers is concentrated. The crude product is purified by chromatography (hexane/EtOAc: 85/15) to give a colorless liquid(7.4 g, 82.6%). (NMR and MS data confirmed, U-4117-40-19, U-4117-34-35). ** ZnBr₂** is dried at 150° C. under high vacuum for 1 hour before used**

(2S,3R)-1-((2E,4Z)-(S)-1,2-Dimethyl-hexa-2,4-dienyl)-3-(3-oxo-propyl) pyrrolidine-2-carboxylic acid ethyl ester (D): (2S,3R)-3-But-3-enyl-1-((S)-1-phenyl-ethyl)-pyrrolidine-2-carboxylic acid ethyl ester(1.0 g, 3.32 mmol) is dissolved in EtOH(10 mL) with HCl(0.5 mL, 37%), and cooled to −70° C. Ozone gas is bubbled though the solution for about 10 min or until the solution is turned very light blue color. The nitrogen gas is bubbled though the solution for 15 min to remove excess ozone in the solution. To the cool solution is added Zn dust(0.43 g. 6.6 mmol) and HCl(0.5 mL, 37%), and stirred at r.t. for 20 min. After filtration the solution is diluted with 50 mL of CH₂Cl₂ and washed with saturated NaHCO₃(10 mL) and 2×20 ml of water. After dried and concentrated, a colorless liquid(1.0 g) is obtained without further purification for next step reaction. (NMR and MS data confirmed, U-4117-51-30).

(2S,3R)-3-(3-Phenethylamino-propyl)-1-((S)-1-phenyl-ethyl)-pyrrolidine-2-carboxylic acid ethyl ester (E): To a solution of (2S,3R)-1-((2E,4Z)-(S)-1,2-Dimethyl-hexa-2,4-dienyl)-3-(3-oxo-propyl) pyrrolidine-2-carboxylic acid ethyl ester(1. g, crude) in EtOH(10 mL) is added phenethylamine(0.44 g, 3.65 mmol) at r.t. After stirring at r.t. for 30 min, NaBH₃CN(0.3 g, 4.87 mmol) is added in one portion, After stirring at r.t. for 1.5 Hrs, the reaction solution is diluted with 50 mL of ether and washed with 20 mL of brine. The ether layer is concentrated and the crude product is purified by chromatography (CH₂Cl₂/MeOH: 97/3) to give a pale liquid (405 mg, 30.0%). (NMR and MS data confirmed, U-4117-52-20).

(3aS,7aS)-6-Phenethyl-1-((S)-1-phenyl-ethyl)-octahydro-pyrrolo[2,3-c]pyridin-7-one (F): (2S,3R)-3-(3-Phenethylamino-propyl)-1-((S)-1-phenyl-ethyl)-pyrrolidine-2-carboxylic acid ethyl ester(340 mg, 0.83 mmol) is dissolved in 20 mL of MeOH/KOH/H₂O(10 mL/5 g/5 mL). After stirring at 80° C. for 2 hrs, the solution is cooled to 0° C. and neutralized by addition of HCl (37%) to pH=5. After concentration the crude product is dissolved in 1 mL of CH₂Cl₂, and filtered through a short silica gel plug and eluted with CH₂Cl₂/MeOH(93/7) to give a pale glassy solid (250 mg, 78.9%) as the acid. (NMR and MS data confirmed, U-4117-60-22).

To a solution(0.05˜0.1 M) of acid (1 equivalent) in DMF at r.t. is added diisopropylethylamine(5 equivalents). After stirring at r.t. for 20 min, a solution(0.05˜0.1 M) of HOBT(1.2 equivalents) and HBTU(1.2 equivalents) in DMF is added to the reaction mixture, and continued to be stirred for 1.5 h (or monitored by TLC). The reaction solution is diluted with ether(1×5˜10 times by volume of the solution), and washed with water(twice ×3 by volume of the solution). The combined organic solution is concentrated. The crude product is diluted with CH₂Cl₂ and dried over Na₂SO₄, and purified by chromatography(CH₂Cl₂/MeOH:97/3) to give pure product (70˜95% yield). (NMR and MS data confirmed, U-4117-102).

Procedure for Compound F:

A solution of(2S,3R)-3-(2-Phenethylamino-ethyl)-1-((S)-1-phenyl-ethyl)-pyrrolidine-2 carboxylic acid methyl ester(400 mg, 1.05 mmol) and 2-hydroxyl pyridine(100 mg, 1.05 mmol) in THF(10 mL) is stirred at 40° C. for 24 hrs. The reaction is diluted with 50 mL of ether and washed with 2×120 mL of water. After dried and concentrated to give a pale liquid(350 mg, LC/MS shown a clean product only.) without further purification for next step reaction.

(3aR,8aS)-7-Phenethyl-1-((S)-1-phenyl-ethyl)-decahydro-pyrrolo[2,3-c]a zepine (G): To a solution(0.02M) of lactam (1 equivalent) in THF at −20° C. is added a solution(0.02M) of LiAlH₄(2 equivalent) in THF slowly. After stirring at r.t. for 1.5 hrs, the solution is diluted with ether(1×5 times by volume of the solution) and washed with water(twice 2 times by volume of the solution), dried and concentrated. The crude product is purified by Chromatography (CH2Cl2/MeOH:97/3) to give product(yield 70˜90%). (NMR and MS data confirmed, U-4117-104).

(3aR,8aS)-7-Phenethyl-decahydro-pyrrolo[2,3-c]azepine (H): A solution/suspension of reactant (<1 g) and Pd 10% on carbon (20% by weight) in MeOH (10 mL, with 2 drops of acetic acid) in a 1000 ml round flask is vigorously stirred at r.t. under hydrogen gas (at atmosphere pressure) from a balloon for 4˜8 hrs. After degassed by house vacuum for 10 min, the reaction mixture is filtered to remove catalyst and concentrated. The crude product is diluted with CH₂Cl₂/H₂O(8/2, reasonable amount) and neutralized with 10% NH₄OH to pH=7˜8. After dried and concentrated to give product (80% -quantitative yield) without purification for the next step reaction. (NMR and MS data confirmed, U-4117-105).

(S)-N-((S)-1-Cyclohexyl-2-{(2S,3R)-2-[(ethyl-phenethyl-amino)-methyl]-3-methyl-pyrrolidin-1-yl}-2-oxo-ethyl)-2-methylamino-propionamide (compound 23): Prepared from compound H following the procedures established in Scheme 5.

Example 3

Diphenethylamine (D). To a solution of phenylacetaldehyde (6.0 g, 50 mmol) and 2-phenylethylamine in THF (200 mL) is added sodium triacetoxy-borohydride drop wise. The solution is stirred under nitrogen overnight at room temperature. The solution is quenched with aq. saturated sodium bicarbonate (200 mL), and extracted with EtOAc (4×100 mL). The organic extracts are combined, dried and concentrated under vacuum. The residue is purified by flash chromatography (silica gel; EtOAc/MeOH 9:1) to provide 1.25 g (11%) of the compound D as a clear oil. M+H⁺=226.10.

Diphenethyl-(S)-1-pyrrolidin-2-ylmethyl-amine (E). To a solution of (S)-2-Formyl-pyrrolidine-1-carboxylic acid tert-butyl ester (1.0 g, 5.0 mmol) and D (1.125 g, 5.0 mmol) in THF (40 mL) is added sodium triacetoxyborohydride drop wise. The solution is stirred under nitrogen overnight at room temperature. The solution is quenched with aq. saturated sodium bicarbonate (40 mL). The mixture is extracted with EtOAc (4×50 mL). The organic extracts are combined, dried and concentrated under vacuum. The residue is purified by flash chromatography (silica gel; Hexane/EtOAc 4:1) to provide a yellow oil. The yellow oil is dissolved in dichloromethane (20 mL), TFA (10 mL) is added and the mixture is stirred at room temperature for 3 h. The mixture is concentrated and the residue is dissolved in dichloromethane (100 mL) and neutralized with saturated sodium bicarbonate. The solution is extracted with dichloromethane (3×50 mL). The organic extracts are combined, dried and concentrated under vacuum to provide 1.04 g (68% two steps) of the title compound E which is used in the next step without further purification or characterization.

Compound (F). To a solution of t-Boc-L-cyclohexylglycine (0.868 g, 3.38 mmol) in DMF (20 mL) is added diisopropylethylamine (1.83 mL, 16.9 mmol). The mixture is stirred for 20 minutes at room temperature. Then a solution of E, HOBt (516 mg, 3.82 mmol) and HBTU (1.448 g, 3.82 mmol) in DMF (30 mL) is added. The mixture is stirred overnight at room temperature, and then diluted by ether (200 mL) and washed sequentially with aq. 1M citric acid (50 mL), water (50 mL), satd. aq. NaHCO₃ (50 mL) and brine (2×50 mL). The organic extract is dried and concentrated under vacuum. The residue is purified by flash chromatography (silica gel; Hexane/EtOAc 2:3) to provide a yellow oil. The yellow oil is dissolved in dichloromethane (20 mL), TFA (10 mL) is added and the mixture is stirred at room temperature for 3 hours. The mixture is concentrated and the residue is dissolved in dichloromethane (100 mL) and neutralized with saturated sodium bicarbonate. The solution is extracted with dichloromethane (3×50 mL). The organic extracts are combined, dried and concentrated under vacuum to provide 780 mg (52% two steps) of the title compound F which is used in the next step without further purification or characterization.

Compound 26. To a solution of t-Boc-N-methyl-L-alanine (354 mg, 1.75 mmol) in DMF (20 mL) is added diisopropylethylamine (0.938 mL, 8.75 mmol). The mixture is stirred for 20 minutes at room temperature. Then a solution of F, HOBt (267 mg, 1.98 mmol) and HBTU (751 mg, 1.98 mmol) in DMF (30 mL) is added. The mixture is stirred for 3 h at room temperature, and then diluted by ether(200 mL) and washed sequentially with 1 M citric acid (50 mL), water (50 mL), satd. aq. NaHCO₃ (50 mL) and brine (2×50 mL). The organic extract is dried and concentrated under vacuum. The residue is dissolved in dichloromethane (20 mL) and TFA (10 mL) is added. The mixture is stirred at room temperature for 3 h and concentrated. The resulting residue is dissolved in dichloromethane (100 mL) and neutralized with saturated sodium bicarbonate. The solution is extracted with dichloromethane (3×50 mL). The organic extracts are combined, dried and concentrated under vacuum. Portion of the residue is purified by HPLC (C-18 silica gel, 30% CH₃CN/H₂O in 0.5% TFA) to provide 120 mg of compound 26 as TFA salt. M+H⁺=533.47.

Example 4

Compound 32 is prepared as follows:

Compound I. Compounds G (122 mg, 1 mmole) and H (226 mg, 1 mmole) are dissolved in 5 mL DME. To this a mixture of 1 mL 2 N aq. Na₂CO₃ and 50 mg Tetrakis is added. The resulting mixture is degassed for 5 minutes, stirred at 90° C. for 6 h, cooled down to room temperature, and concentrated. The residue is purified by flash chromatography (ethyl acetate/hexane) to provide I as an amber oil (204 mg, 90%). The crude product is used directly in next reaction without further purification or characterization.

Compound J. LAH (38 mg) is added to a solution of I (226 mg, 1 mmole) in 5 mL THF 0° C. The temperature of the mixture is allowed to warm to room temperature and further stirred overnight. The reaction is quenched by following the Fisher method, filtered and concentrated to provide J as a colorless oil (183 mg, 92%) and is used directly in next reaction without further purification or characterization.

Compound K. The suspension of compound J (198 mg, 1 mmole) and MnO₂ (870 mg, 10 mmole) in 15 mL chloroform is stirred overnight. Filtering and concentration yielded product K as a colorless oil (192 mg, 98%).

¹H NMR (CDCl₃) δ 9.96 (s, 1H), 7.72 (s,2H), 7.47 (s, 2H), 7.15-7.35 (m,5H), 4.07 (s, 2H)

Compound L. A mixture of 3-chloropropylamine hydrochloride (140 mg, 1.1 mmol), aldehyde K (196 mg, 1.0 mmol), and sodium carbonate (212 mg, 2 mmol) in water (10 mL) is stirred overnight at room temperature. The resulting solution is extracted with ethyl acetate (3×20 mL), separated, dried over Na₂SO₄ and evaporated in vacuum (15 Torr) to give an essentially pure oily residue (270 mg) which is used for the next reaction without further purification. (M+H⁺272, calc. 272)

Compound M. Imine L (271 mg, 1 mmol) is added to a blue suspension of lithium powder (75 mg, 10 mmol) and a catalytic amount of DTBB (30 mg, 0.10 mmol; 5% molar) in THF (5 mL) at −78° C. The resulting mixture is stirred for 2 h at same temperature. Reaction is quenched with water (20 mL) allowing the temperature to rise to 20° C. The resulting solution is purified by successively acid-base extraction with 2 M hydrochloric acid (3×15 mL) and 4 M sodium hydroxide (3×20 mL). The final solution is extracted with ethyl acetate (3×20 mL), separated, dried over Na₂SO₄ and evaporated to give pure compound M, (214 mg, 90%); (M+H⁺238, calc. 238)

Compound O. A mixture of compound M (237 mg, 1 mmole), compound N (257 mg, 1 mmole), HBTU (460 mg, 1.2 mmole), HOBT (170 mg, 1.1 mmole), DIPEA (512 mg, 3 mmole) and 5 mL DMF is stirred overnight. The mixture is diluted with ether (25 mL), washed with water, brine, dried over MgSO₄, filtered, and concentrated. The resulting residue is treated with 2 mL of CH₂Cl₂/TFA (1/1), stirred for 2 h, concentrated to provided product O as a pale yellow solid (320 mg, 85%); (M+H⁺377, calc. 377).

Compound 32. A mixture of compound O (376 mg, 1 mmole), t-Boc-N-methylalanine P (203 mg, 1 mmole), HBTU (460 mg, 1.2 mmole), HOBT (170 mg, 1.1 mmole), DIPEA (512 mg, 3 mmole) and 5 mL DMF is stirred overnight. The mixture is diluted with ether (25 mL), washed with water, brine, dried over MgSO₄, filtered, and concentrated. The resulting residue is treated with 2 mL of CH₂Cl₂/TFA (1/1), stirred for 2 h and concentrated under vacuum. Column chromatography provided compound 32 as a pale yellow solid, (397 mg, 86%). (M+H⁺462, calc. 462).

Example 5 (S)-N-{(S)-1-Cyclohexyl-2-[(S)-2-(indan-2-yloxymethyl)-pyrrolidin-1-yl]-2-oxo-ethyl}-2-methylamino-propionamide (34)

(S)-2-Methanesulfonyloxymethyl-pyrrolidine-1-carboxylic acid tert-butyl ester, (P). A flame dried flask charged with (S)-2-Hydroxymethyl-pyrrolidine-1-carboxylic acid tert-butyl ester (1 g, 5 mmol), dichloromethane (DCM) (20 mL) and triethylamine (0.70 mL, 5.2 mmol) is cooled to 0° C. under N₂ is added a solution of methanesulfonychloride (0.38 mL, 5 mmol) in DCM (5 mL) dropwise over 10 minutes. The reaction is stirred for 1 hour. After addition of DCM (100 mL), the reaction mixture is washed with brine, dried and concentrated in vacuo. The residue is purified by chromatography on SiO₂ (5% EtOAc/Hexanes) to give 1.38 g of methanesulfonate ester (P) as a clear colorless oil: LCMS (ES) 280.10 (MH⁺).

(S)-2-(Indan-2-yloxymethyl)-pyrrolidine-1-carboxylic acid tert-butyl ester, (Q). Sodium hydride (60%) (0.6 g, 14.4 mmol) is added to a flame dried flask charged with indan-2-ol (0.965 g, 7.2 mmol) and N,N′-dimethylformamide (DMF) (20 mL), cooled to 0° C. under N₂ and stirred for 30 minutes. A solution of (S)-2-Methanesulfonyloxymethyl-pyrrolidine-1-carboxylic acid tert-butyl ester (P) (1 g, 3.6 mmol) in DMF (5 mL) is added dropwise to the reaction mixture in such a manner as to maintain 0° C. The reaction is stirred at 60° C. for one hour, cooled to 0° C., quenched with brine, diluted with EtOAc, washed repeatedly with brine (6×), dried and concentrated in vacuo. The residue is purified by chromatography on SiO₂ (5% EtOAc/Hexanes) to give 0.20 g of indanyl ether (Q) as a clear colorless oil: LCMS (ES) 340.17 (MNa+).

(S)-N-{(S)-1-Cyclohexyl-2-[(S)-2-(indan-2-yloxymethyl)-pyrrolidin-1-yl]-2-oxo-ethyl}-2-methylamino-propionamide, (34). ((S)-1-{(S)-1-Cyclohexyl-2-[(S)-2-(indan-2-yloxymethyl)-pyrrolidin-1-yl]-2-oxo-ethylcarbamoyl}-ethyl)-methyl-carbamic acid tert-butyl ester (Q) (0.54 g, 1 mmol) is dissolved in DCM (8 mL) and treated with trifluoroacetic acid (4 mL) for 45 minutes. The reaction mixture is concentrated in vacuo, purified by preparative reverse-phase hplc to give 0.096 g of the methylamine (34) as a clear gum: LCMS (ES) 442.26 (MH+).

Example 6

1-Bromo-3-phenoxy-benzene (A) A mixture of dibromobenzene (3 g, 12.75 mmol), phenol (1 g, 10.6 mmol), copper(I) oxide (152 mgs, 1 mmol), and cesium carbonate (3.46 g, 10.6 mmol) in 8 mL of NMP is heated at 195° C. for 20 minutes in a microwave. The heterogeneous mixture is filtered through a bed of Celite and the residue is washed with EtOAc (1×20 mL). The filtrate is diluted with 1N NaOH (200 mL) and extracted with EtOAc (3×100 mL). The organics were combined, dried over Na₂SO₄, filtered and concentrated under reduced pressures to give crude product as a yellow oil which is purified by column chromatography (100% hexanes) to give 1-bromo-3-phenoxy-benzene as a colorless oil (1.4 g, 53%). LCMS m/z 250 (M+1).

5-(3-Phenoxy-phenyl)-3,4-dihydro-2H-pyrrole (B): To a cold solution (−78° C.) of 1-bromo-3-phenoxy-benzene (10.13 g, 40.6 mmol) in anhydrous THF (100 mL) and under nitrogen is added n-BuLi (1.6M, 44.7 mmol, 27 mL). The mixture is allowed to stir for 30 minutes before being added to a cold solution (−78° C.) of 1-(tert-Butoxycarbonyl)-2-pyrrolidionone in anhydrous THF (50 mL) under nitrogen via cannula. The resulting mixture is allowed to warm to room temperature overnight before being quenched with water (200 mL) and extracted with EtOAc (3×100 mL). The organics were collected, dried over Na₂SO₄, filtered and concentrated under reduced pressures. The residue is dissolved in CH₂Cl₂ (20 mL) and TFA (10 mL) is added with stirring. The mixture is stirred for 30 minutes and quenched over ice cold sat. NaHCO₃, extracted with CH₂Cl₂ (3×100 mL) and the organics were combined, dried over Na₂SO₄, filtered and concentrated under reduced pressures. The residue is purified by silica gel column chromatography (20% EtOAc/Hexanes) to give 5-(3-phenoxy-phenyl)-3,4-dihydro-2H-pyrrole as light yellow oil (6.1 g, 63%). LCMS m/z 238 (M+1).

(S)-2-(3-Phenoxy-phenyl)-pyrrolidine (C): To oven dried round bottom flask is added S,S-EBTHITiF2 (100 mgs, 0.3 mmol) and diluted with THF (5 mL). The flask is sealed and purged with argon. To the yellow solution is added phenylsilane (4.6 mL, 37.5 mmol), pyrrolidine (100 uL, 1.1 mmol), and anhydrous methanol (100 uL, 1.1 mmol). The resulting yellow mixture is stirred for 45 minutes until green color persisted. A solution of 5-(3-phenoxy-phenyl)-3,4-dihydro-2H-pyrrole (1.2 g, 5.05 mmol) in THF (2 mL) is added to the catalyst and the mixture is stirred for 8 hrs. The reaction is carefully quenched with 10% HCl (100 mL) until gas evolution subsided and the pH˜2. The mixture is diluted with EtOAc (100 mL) and the aqueous layer is removed, neutralized with 3M NaOH (50 mL) until basic and extracted with EtOAc (3×100 mL). The organics were combined, dried over Na₂SO₄, filtered and concentrated under reduced pressures. The solid residue is purifed by silica gel column chromatography (100% EtOAc) to give (S)-2-(3-phenoxy-phenyl)-pyrrolidine as a yellow solid (580 mgs, 48%). LCMS m/z 240.1 (M+1).

{(S)-1-Cyclohexyl-2-oxo-2-[(S)-2-(3-phenoxy-phenyl)-pyrrolidin-1-yl]-ethyl}-carbamic acid tert-butyl ester (D): (S)-2-(3-phenoxy-phenyl)-pyrrolidine (1.2 g, 5.02 mmol) is added to a solution of Boc-L-α-cyclohexylglycine (1.42 g, 5.2 mmol), HOBt (1.0 g, 7.53 mmol) and HBTU (2.86 g, 7.53 mmol) in 10 mL of DMF. Hunig's base (3.6 Ml, 20 mmol) is added and the mixture is stirred for 30 minutes. The mixture is diluted with brine (20 mL) and extracted with EtOAc (3×10 mL). The organics were combined, dried over Na₂SO₄, filtered, concentrated under reduced pressures and purified by silica gel column chromatography (20% EtOAc/Hexanes) to give {(S)-1-cyclohexyl-2-oxo-2-[(S)-2-(3-phenoxy-phenyl)-pyrrolidine-1-yl]-ethyl}-cabamic acid tert-butyl ester as a white powder (1.65 g, 66%). LCMS m/z 479.2 (M+1).

(S)-2-Amino-2-cyclohexyl-1-[(S)-2-(3-phenoxy-phenyl)-pyrrolidin-1-yl]-ethanone (E): To a solution of {(S)-1-cyclohexyl-2-oxo-2-[(S)-2-(3-phenoxy-phenyl)-pyrrolidine-1-yl]-ethyl}-carbamic acid tert-butyl ester in CH₂Cl₂ (20 mL) is added TFA (10 mL) and the mixture is stirred for 30 minutes. The mixture is concentrated under reduced pressures to give (S)-2-amino-2-cyclohexyl-1-[(S)-2-(3-phenoxy-phenyl)-pyrrolidin-1-yl]-ethanone as a TFA salt quantitavely (1.65 g). LCMS m/z 379 (M+1).

((S)-1-{(S)-1-Cyclohexyl-2-oxo-2-[(S)-2-(3-phenoxy-phenyl)-pyrrolidin-1-yl]-ethylcarbamoyl}-ethyl)-methyl-carbamic acid tert-butyl ester (F): To a solution of Boc-N-methyl-L-alanine (771 mgs, 3.79 mmol), HOBt (700 mgs, 5.17 mmol), and HBTU (2.0 g, 5.17 mmol) in DMF (10 mL) is added (S)-2-amino-2-cyclohexyl-1-[(S)-2-(3-phenoxy-phenyl)-pyrrolidin-1-yl]-ethanone and DIPEA (3 mL, 17.25 mmol). The mixture is stirred for 30 minutes and diluted with brine (20 mL) and extracted with EtOAc (3×10 mL). The organics were combined, dried over Na₂SO₄, filtered, concentrated under reduced pressures and purified by silica gel column chromatography (50% EtOAc/Hexanes) to give the product ((S) 1-{(S)-1-cyclohexyl-2-oxo-2-[(S)-2-(3-phenoxy-phenyl)-pyrrolodin-1-yl]-ethylcarbamoyl}-ethyl)-methyl-carbamic acis tert-butyl ester as a white powder (1.3 g, 84%). LCMS m/z 564 (M+1).

(S)-N-{(S)-1-Cyclohexyl-2-oxo-2-[(S)-2-(3-phenoxy-phenyl)-pyrrolidin-1-yl]-ethyl}-2-methylamino-propionamide(45): To a solution of ((S) 1-{(S)-1-cyclohexyl-2-oxo-2-[(S)-2-(3-phenoxy-phenyl)-pyrrolodin-1-yl]-ethylcarbamoyl}-ethyl)-methyl-carbamic acis tert-butyl ester (450 mgs, 0.79 mmol) in CH₂Cl₂ (20 mL) is added TFA (10 mL) and stirred for 30 minutes. The mixture is concentrated under reduced pressures and purified by reverse phase column chromatography to give the product as a TFA salt (370 mgs, 82%). LCMS m/z 464.1 (M+1).

Example 7

(S)-2-(1H-Tetrazol-5-yl)-pyrrolidine-1-carboxylic acid tert-butyl ester (A). To a solution of (S)-2-Cyano-pyrrolidine-1-carboxylic acid tert-butyl ester (500 mg, 2.55 mmol) in N,N-dimethyl-formamide (20 mL) is added sodium azide (174 mg, 2.68 mmol) and ammonium chloride (150 mg, 2.81 mmol). The solution is stirred at 93° C. over night. The solution is poured into 5% citric acid solution with ice, and the mixture is extracted with EtOAc. The organic extract is washed with brine, dried and concentrated under vacuum. The crude oil is used directly in the next step without further purification. M+H⁺=240.

(S)-2-(2-Benzyl-2H-tetrazol-5-yl)-pyrrolidine-1-carboxylic acid tert-butyl ester (B). To a solution of crude compound A in N,N-dimethyl-formamide (5 mL) is added K₂CO₃ (1.16 g, 8.4 mmol) and benzyl bromide (665 uL, 5.6 mmol). The solution is stirred at room temperature for 1 hr. The mixture is diluted with EtOAc and washed with brine. The organic layer is dried and concentrated under vacuum. The residue is purified by flash column chromatography (Hexanes/EtOAc) to provide 404 mg of the title compound M+H⁺=330, and 401 mg of the other region isomer (S)-2-(1-Benzyl-1H-tetrazol-5-yl)-pyrrolidine-1-carboxylic acid tert-butyl ester (C). M+H⁺=330. Combined yield is 87% for 2 steps.

2-Benzyl-5-(S)-pyrrolidine-2-yl-2H-tetrazole (D). To a solution of compound B in DCM (5 mL) is added triethylsilane (479 uL, 3.0 mmol) and then TFA (5 mL). The solution is stirred at room temperature for 1 hr and dried under vacuum. The crude oil is used directly in the next step without further purification. M+H⁺=230.

{2-[(S)-2-(2-Benzyl-2H-tetrazol-5-yl)-pyrrolidin-1-yl]-1-cyclohexyl-2-oxo-ethyl}-carbamic acid tert-butyl ester (E). To a solution of (S)-tert-butoxycarbonylamino-cyclohexyl-acetic acid (123.8 mg, 0.48 mmol) in DMA (5 mL) is added HBTU (248.8 mg, 0.656 mmol), HOBt (88.6 mg, 0.656 mmol) and diisopropylethylamine (305 uL, 1.75 mmol). The mixture is stirred at room temperature for 5 minutes. A solution of compound D in DCM (5 mL) is added to the above mixture at 0° C. The reaction mixture is stirred at room temperature for 1 hour and concentrated under vacuum. The residue is diluted with EtOAc. The organic is washed with brine, citric acid(5%), brine, NaHCO₃(Sat.) and brine. The organic layer is then dried and concentrated under vacuum. The residue is purified by flash column chromatography (Hexanes/EtOAc) to provide the title compound 190 mg (92%). M+H⁺=369.

2-Amino-1-[(S)-2-(2-Benzyl-2H-tetrazol-5-yl)-pyrrolidin-1-yl]-2-cyclohexyl-ethanone; compound with trifluoro-acetic acid (F). To a solution of compound E in DCM (4 mL) is added TFA (4 mL) at 0° C. The solution is stirred at room temperature for 1 hr and dried under vacuum. The crude oil is used directly in the next step without further purification. M+H⁺=369.

((S)-1-{2-[(S)-2-(2-Benzyl-2H-tetrazol-5-yl)-pyrrolidin-1-yl]-1-cyclohexyl-2-oxo-ethylcarbamoyl}-propyl)-methyl-carbamic acid tert-butyl ester (G). To a solution of (S)-2-(tert-butoxycarbonyl-methyl-amino)-butyric acid (53.0 mg, 0.24 mmol) in DMA (2 mL) is added HBTU (125.0 mg, 0.33 mmol), HOBt (44.6 mg, 0.33 mmol) and diisopropylethylamine (192 uL, 1.1 mmol). The mixture is stirred at room temperature for 5 minutes. A solution of compound F in DCM (2 mL) is added to the above mixture at 0° C. The reaction mixture is stirred at room temperature for 1 hour and concentrated under vacuum. The residue is diluted with EtOAc. The organic is washed with brine, citric acid(5%), brine, NaHCO₃(Sat.) and brine. The organic layer is then dried and concentrated under vacuum. The crude oil is used directly in the next step without further purification. M+H⁺=554.

(S)-N-{2-[(S)-2-(2-Benzyl-2H-tetrazol-5-yl)-pyrrolidin-1-yl]-1-cyclohexyl-2-oxo -ethyl}-2-methylamino-butyramide; compound with trifluoro-acetic acid (50). To a solution of compound G in DCM (2 mL) is added TFA (2 mL) at 0° C. The solution is stirred at room temperature for 1 hr and dried under vacuum. The crude oil is purified by HPLC to provide the title compound. M+H⁺=467.

Example 8

2-(Benzyloxyimino-methyl)-pyrrolidine-1-carboxylic acid tert-butyl ester (A). To a solution of benzylhydroxylamine (2.64 g, 16.56 mmole) in dry pyridine (20 ml) is added 2-formyl-pyrrolidine-1-carboxylic acid tert-butyl ester (3.30 g, 16.56 mmole). The solution is stirred for three hours at room temperature. The reaction solution is quenched with water and extracted with dichloromethane. The organic layer is combined, dried, and concentrated under vacuum. The residue is purified by flash chromatography (silica gel; from 50% to 50% of ethyl acetate in hexane) to provide 4.9 g (98%) of the title compound. M+H⁺-Boc=205.1.

Pyrrolidine-2-carbaldehyde-O-benzyl-oxime (B). The solution of 2-(benzyloxyimino-methyl)-pyrrolidine-1-carboxylic acid tert-butyl ester (1.50 g, 4.92 mmole) and TFA (10 ml) in dichloromethane (10 ml) is stirred for 2 hours at room temperature. Solvent is removed. The crude product is carried to next step without further purification. M+H⁺=205.1

{(S)-2-[Benzyloxylimino-methyl-pyrrolidine-1-yl]-1-cyclohexyl-2-oxo-ethyl}-carbamic acid tert-butyl ester (C). The solution of boc-L-α-cyclohexylglycine (1.27 g, 4.92 mmole), 1-hydroxylbenzotriazole (0.99 g, 7.38 mmole), diisopropylethylamine (2.54 g, 19.68 mmole), and O-benzotriazole-N,N,N,N-tetramethyl-urounium hexafluorophosphate (2.80 g, 7.38 mmole) in dichloromethane (30 ml) is stirred for 15 minutes at room temperature. A solution of pyrrolidine-2-carbaldehyde-O-benzyl-oxime (˜1.00 g, 0.49 mmole) in dichloromethane is added. The reaction solution is stirred for three hours at room temperature and then quenched with saturated NaHCO₃ aqueous, extracted with dichloromethane. The organic layer is combined, dried, and concentrated under vacuum. The residue is purified by flash chromatography (silica gel; from 20% to 70% of ethyl acetate in hexane) to provide 1.81 g (83% over 2 steps) of the title compound. M+H⁺=444.2

1-((S)-2-Amino-2-cyclohexyl-acetyl)-prrolidine-2-Carbaldehyde-O-benzyl-oxime (D). The solution of {(S)-2-[benzyloxylimino-methyl-pyrrolidine-1-yl]-1-cyclohexyl-2-oxo-ethyl}-carbamic acid tert-butyl ester (1.76 g, 3.97 mmole) and TFA (10 ml) in dichloromethane (20 ml) is stirred for a hour. Solvent is removed under vacuum. The residue is carried to next step without further purification. M+H⁺=344.2

((S)-1-{(S)-2-[2-(Benzyloxyimino-methyl)-pyrrolidine-1-yl]-1-cyclohexyl-2-oxo-ethylcarbamoyl}-ethyl)-methyl-carbamic acid tert-butyl ester (E). The solution of Boc-L-α-cyclohexylglycine (0.81 g, 3.87 mmole), 1-hydroxylbenzotriazole (0.81 g, 5.95 mmole), diisopropylethylamine (2.05 g, 15.88 mmole), and O-benzotriazole-N,N,N,N-tetramethyl-urounium hexafluorophosphate (2.35 g, 5.95 mmole) in dichloromethane is stirred for 15 minutes at room temperature. A solution of 1-((S)-2-amino-2-cyclohexyl-acetyl)-prrolidine-2-carbaldehyde-O-benzyl-oxime (˜1.40 g, 3.97 mmole) in dichloromethane is added. The reaction solution is stirred for three hours at room temperature and then quenched with saturated NaHCO₃ aqueous and extracted with dichloromethane. The organic layer is combined, dried, and concentrated under vacuum. The residue is carried to next step without further purification. M+H⁺=529.4.

(S)-N-{2-[2-(Benzyloxyimino-methyl-pyrrolidine-1-yl]-1-cyclohexyl-2-oxo-ethyl}-2-methylamino-propionamide(8). The solution of ((S)-1-{(S)-2-[2-(benzyloxyimino-methyl)-pyrrolidine-1-yl]-1-cyclohexyl-2-oxo-ethylcarbamoyl}-ethyl)-methyl-carbamic acid tert-butyl ester (2.10 g, 3.97 mmole) and TFA (20 ml) in dichloromethane (40 ml) is stirred for a hour. Solvent is removed under vacuum. 1.36 g of crude product is obtained. The crude product (0.66 g) is purified by HPLC (C18 silica gel, from 10% to 70% of CH₃CN/H₂O in 0.1% TFA) to provide 0.058 g of the title compound as TFA salt of isomeric mixtures. M+H⁺=429.4.

Examples 9-78

The following compounds are prepared by methods analogous to those described herein utilizing analogous starting materials: Compound Structure Example Number

Example 9 MS ESI 455.34 (M + H)⁺

Example 10 MS ESI 429.46 (M + H)⁺

Example 11 MS ESI 429.46 (M + H)⁺

Example 12 MS ESI 443.46 (M + H)⁺

Example 13 MS ESI 443.47 (M + H)⁺

Example 14 MS ESI 443.48 (M + H)⁺

Example 15 MS ESI 457.27 (M + H)⁺

Example 16 MS ESI 469.23 (M + H)⁺

Example 17 MS ESI 415.26 (M + H)⁺

Example 18 MS ESI 443.19 (M + H)⁺

Example 19 MS ESI 443.19 (M + H)⁺

Example 20 MS ESI 535.33 (M + H)⁺

Example 21 MS ESI 497.33 (M + H)⁺

Example 22 MS ESI 497.35 (M + H)⁺

Example 23 MS ESI 469.36 (M + H)⁺

Example 24 MS ESI 457.6 (M + H)⁺

Example 25 MS ESI 481.7 (M + H)⁺

Example 26 MS ESI 533.5 (M + H)⁺

Example 27 MS ESI 457.43 (M + H)⁺

Example 28 MS ESI 443.23 (M + H)⁺

Example 29 MS ESI 442.65 (M + H)⁺

Example 30 MS ESI 428.62 (M + H)⁺

Example 31 MS ESI 414.30 (M + H)⁺

Example 32 MS ESI 462.0 (M + H)⁺

Example 33 MS ESI 422.1 (M + H)⁺

Example 34 MS ESI 442.26 (M + H)⁺

Example 35 MS ESI 430.28 (M + H)⁺

Example 36 MS ESI 446.6 (M + H)⁺

Example 37 MS ESI 462.6 (M + H)⁺

Example 38 MS ESI 478.7 (M + H)⁺

Example 39 MS ESI 462.3 (M + H)⁺

Example 40 MS ESI 462.3 (M + H)

Example 41 MS ESI 437.3 (M + H)⁺

Example 42 MS ESI 477.3 (M + H)⁺

Example 43 MS ESI 477.3 (M + H)⁺

Example 44 MS ESI 464.3 (M + H)⁺

Example 45 MS ESI 464.3 (M + H)⁺

Example 46 MS ESI 480.3 (M + H)⁺

Example 47 MS ESI 480.3 (M + H)⁺

Example 48 MS ESI 512.0 (M + H)⁺

Example 49 MS ESI 454.3 (M + H)⁺

Example 50 MS ESI 468.3 (M + H)⁺

Example 51 MS ESI 454.3 (M + H)⁺

Example 52 MS ESI 468.3 (M + H)⁺

Example 53 MS ESI 439 (M + H)⁺

Example 54 MS ESI 453 (M + H)⁺

Example 55 MS ESI 469.3 (M + H)⁺

Example 56 MS ESI 523.2 (M + H)⁺

Example 57 MS ESI 511 (M + H)⁺

Example 58 MS ESI 485 (M + H)⁺

Example 59 MS ESI 509 (M + H)⁺

Example 60 MS ESI 826 (M + H)⁺

Example 61 MS ESI 471.3 (M + H)⁺

Example 62 MS ESI 469.4 (M + H)⁺

Example 63 MS ESI 415.3 (M + H)⁺

Example 64 MS ESI 443.4 (M + H)⁺

Example 65 MS ESI 429.4 (M + H)⁺

Example 66 MS ESI 429.4 (M + H)⁺

Example 67 MS ESI 539.3 (M + H)⁺

Example 68 MS ESI 539.3 (M + H)⁺

Example 69 MS ESI 455.3 (M + H)⁺

Example 70 MS ESI 455.3 (M + H)⁺

Example 71 MS ESI 441.3 (M + H)⁺

Example 72 MS ESI 469.3 (M + H)⁺

Example 73 MS ESI 469.3 (M + H)⁺

Example 74 MS ESI 455.3 (M + H)⁺

Example 75 MS ESI 455.3 (M + H)⁺

Example 76 MS ESI 469.3 (M + H)⁺

Example 77 MS ESI 512.2 (M + H)⁺

Example 78 MS ESI 496.3 (M + H)⁺

Example 79 MS ESI 496 (M + H)⁺

Example 80 MS ESI 498 (M + H)⁺

Example 81 MS ESI 476 (M + H)⁺

Example 82 MS ESI 520 (M + H)⁺

Example 83 MS ESI 424 (M + H)⁺

Example 84 MS ESI 424 (M + H)⁺

Example 85 MS ESI 424 (M + H)⁺

Example 86 MS ESI 396 (M + H)⁺

Example 87 MS ESI 410 (M + H)⁺

Example 88 MS ESI 438 (M + H)⁺

Example 89 MS ESI 450 (M + H)+

Example 90 MS ESI 464 (M + H)⁺

Example 91 MS ESI 478 (M + H)⁺

Example 92 MS ESI 438 (M + H)+

Example 93 MS ESI 472 (M + H)+

Example 94 MS ESI 465 (M + H)⁺

Example 95 MS ESI 465 (M + H)⁺

Example 96 MS ESI 465 (M + H)⁺

Example 97 MS ESI 466 (M + H)⁺

Example 98 MS ESI 465 (M + H)⁺

Example 99 MS ESI 529 (M + H)⁺

Example 100 MS ESI 463 (M + H)⁺

Example 101 MS ESI 409 (M + H)⁺

Example 102 MS ESI 423 (M + H)⁺

Example 103 MS ESI 451 (M + H)⁺

Example 104 MS ESI 477 (M + H)⁺

Example 105 MS ESI 491 (M + H)⁺

Example 106 MS ESI 485 (M + H)⁺

Exmaple 107 MS ESI 451 (M + H)⁺

Example 108 MS ESI 463 (M + H)⁺

Example 109 MS ESI 541 (M + H)⁺

Example 110 MS ESI 491 (M + H)⁺

Example 111 MS ESI 507 (M + H)⁺

Example 112 MS ESI 531 (M + H)⁺

Example 113 MS ESI 497 (M + H)⁺

Example 114 MS ESI 496 (M + H)⁺

Example 115 MS ESI 478 (M + H)⁺

Example 116 MS ESI 496 (M + H)⁺

Example 117 MS ESI 512 (M + H)⁺

Example 118 MS ESI 514 (M + H)⁺

Example 119 MS ESI 479 (M + H)⁺

Example 120 MS ESI 478 (M + H)⁺

Example 121 MS ESI 479 (M + H)⁺

Example 122 MS ESI 496 (M + H)⁺

Example 123 MS ESI 453 (M + H)⁺

Example 124 MS ESI 452 (M + H)⁺

Example 125 MS ESI 467 (M + H)⁺

Example 126 MS ESI 481 (M + H)⁺

Example 127 MS ESI 453 (M + H)⁺

Example 128 MS ESI 511 (M + H)⁺

Example 129 MS ESI 573 (M + H)⁺

Example 130 MS ESI 483 (M + H)⁺

Example 131 MS ESI 468 (M + H)⁺

Example 132 MS ESI 454 (M + H)⁺

Example 133 MS ESI 451 (M + H)⁺

Example 134 MS ESI 451 (M + H)

Example 135 MS ESI 510 (M + H)⁺

Example 136 MS ESI 465 (M + H)

Example 137 MS ESI 464 (M + H)⁺

Example 138 MS ESI 452 (M + H)⁺

Example 139 MS ESI 454 (M + H)⁺

Example 140 MS ESI 535 (M + H)⁺

Example 141 MS ESI 405 (M + H)⁺

Example 142 MS ESI 473 (M + H)⁺

Example 143 MS ESI 513 (M + H)⁺

Example 144 MS ESI 527 (M + H)⁺

Example 145 MS ESI 541 (M + H)⁺

Example 146 MS ESI 547 (M + H)⁺

Example 147 MS ESI 575 (M + H)⁺

Example 148 MS ESI 463 (M + H)⁺

Example 149 MS ESI 505 (M + H)⁺

Example 150 MS ESI 505 (M + H)⁺

Example 151 MS ESI 483 (M + H)⁺

Example 152 MS ESI 469 (M + H)⁺

Example 153 MS ESI 483 (M + H)⁺

Example 154 MS ESI 463 (M + H)⁺

Example 155 MS ESI 447 (M + H)⁺

Example 156 MS ESI 447 (M + H)⁺

Example 157 MS ESI 448 (M + H)⁺

Example 158 MS ESI 446 (M + H)⁺

Example 159 MS ESI 447 (M + H)⁺

Example 160 MS ESI 441 (M + H)⁺

Example 161 MS ESI 455 (M + H)⁺

Example 162 MS ESI 469 (M + H)⁺

Example 163 MS ESI 467 (M + H)⁺

Example 164 MS ESI 481 (M + H)⁺

Example 165 MS ESI 487 (M + H)⁺

Example 166 MS ESI 387 (M + H)⁺

Example 167 MS ESI 401 (M + H)⁺

Example 168 MS ESI 415 (M + H)⁺

Example 169 MS ESI 429 (M + H)⁺

Example 170 MS ESI 449 (M + H)⁺

Example 171 MS ESI 463 (M + H)⁺

Example 172 MS ESI 441 (M + H)⁺

Example 173 MS ESI 413 (M + H)⁺

Example 174 MS ESI 455 (M + H)⁺

Example 175 MS ESI 469 (M + H)⁺

Example 176 MS ESI 427 (M + H)⁺

Example 177 MS ESI 443 (M + H)⁺

Example 178 MS ESI 469 (M + H)⁺

Example 179 MS ESI 469 (M + H)⁺

Example 180 MS ESI 401 (M + H)⁺

Example 181 MS ESI 401 (M + H)⁺

Example 182 MS ESI 415 (M + H)⁺

Example 183 MS ESI 415 (M + H)⁺

Example 184 MS ESI 429 (M + H)⁺

Example 185 MS ESI 443 (M + H)⁺

Example 186 MS ESI 463 (M + H)⁺

Example 187 MS ESI 477 (M + H)⁺

Example 188 MS ESI 455 (M + H)⁺

Example 189 MS ESI 427 (M + H)⁺

Example 190 MS ESI 469 (M + H)⁺

Example 191 MS ESI 483 (M + H)⁺

Example 192 MS ESI 441 (M + H)⁺

Example 193 MS ESI 457 (M + H)⁺

Example 194 MS ESI 415 (M + H)⁺

Example 195 (S)-N-[(S)-1-Cyclohexyl-2-((R)-2-{6-[(2-fluoro-phenyl)-methyl-amino]-pyridin-2-yl}-pyrrolidin-1-yl)-2-oxo-ethyl]-2-methylamino-propionamide (78)

4,4,N-Trimethoxy-N-methyl-butyramide (1)

To a solution of methyl 4,4-dimethoxy-butyrate(4.99 g, 30.8 mmol) and N,O-dimethylhydroxylamine HCl(4.65 g, 47.68 mmol) in 60 mL of THF at −20° C., is added isopropylmagnesiumchloride(46 mL, 92.28 mmol, 2.0M in THF) maintaining the temperature below −20° C. After stirring at −10° C. for 30 min, the reaction mixture is quenched with 50 mL of water and extracted with 3×80 mL of EtOAc. The combined organic layers is dried over Na₂SO₄ and filtered through a short silica gel pluge. The solution is concentrated to give 4,4,N-Trimethoxy-N-methyl-butyramide(5.9 g, 99%) as pale liquid. M/Z=191.0

N-[1-Eth-(Z)-ylidene-5,5-dimethoxy-2-oxo-pentyl]-acrylimidoyl bromide (2)

To a suspension of 2,6-dibromopyridine(8.1 g, 34.03 mmol) in 80 mL of ether at −70° C., is added BuLi(12.3 mL, 26.17 mmol, 2.5 M in Hexane) in on portion. After stirring at −70° C. for 5 min, 4,4,N-Trimethoxy-N-methyl-butyramide(5.0 g, 26.17 mmol) is added to the solution dropwise. After stirring at −70° C. for 1.5 hr, the reaction mixture is quenched with 120 mL of water and extracted with 3×130 mL of EtOAc. The combined organic layers is concentrated and purified by chromatography(Hexane/EtOAc:70/30) to give N-[1-Eth-(Z)-ylidene-5,5-dimethoxy-2-oxo-pentyl]-acrylimidoyl bromide(5.96 g, 60.5%) as light yellow liquid. M/Z=288.0

N-[1-Eth-(Z)-ylidene-2,5-dioxo-pentyl]-acrylimidoyl bromide (3)

To a solution of N-[1-Eth-(Z)-ylidene-5,5-dimethoxy-2-oxo-pentyl] acrylimidoyl bromide(7.0 g, 28.9 mmol) in a solution of acetone(30 mL) and water(1.5 mL) at room temperature, is added Amberlyse-15(20 g). After mechanical shacking for 3 hr at room temperature, the reaction mixture is filtered. The resin beads were washed with acetone (contain 10% of Et₃N). The combined organic layers were concentrated and purified by chromatography(Hexane/EtOAc: 70/30) to yield N-[1-Eth-(Z)-ylidene-2,5-dioxo-pentyl]-acrylimidoyl bromide(5.18 g, 88.1%) as light yellow liquid. M/Z=421, 243.9 [M+1]

2-Bromo-6-[(S)-1-((R)-1-phenyl-ethyl)-pyrrolidin-2-yl]-pyridine (4)

To a solution of N-[1-Eth-(Z)-ylidene-2,5-dioxo-pentyl]-acrylimidoyl bromide(1.0 g, 4.1 mmol) and R(+)-α-methylbenzylamine(0.5 g, 4.1 mmol) in 17 mL of CH₂Cl₂ at −70° C., is added acetic acid(0.6 mL) and sodium triacetoxyborohydride(1.74 g, 8.2 mmol). After stirring at −70° C. for 40 min, the dry ice bath is removed, and the reaction solution is warmed to room temperature. After stirring at room temperature overnight, the reaction mixture is quenched with 20 mL of water and extracted with 3×30 mL of CH₂Cl₂. The combined organic layers were concentrated and purified by chromatography(Hexane/EtOAc: 70/30) to yield 2-Bromo-6-[(S)-1-((R)-1-phenyl-ethyl)-pyrrolidin-2-yl]-pyridine(0.86 g, 62.9%) as light yellow liquid. M/Z=332.7 [M+1]

(Z)-N-(2-Fluoro-phenyl)-N-methyl-N′-[1-[(S)-1-((R)-1-phenyl-ethyl)-pyrrolidin-2-yl]-prop-2-en-(E)-ylidene]-propenamidine (5)

To a solution of 2-Bromo-6-[(S)-1-((R)-1-phenyl-ethyl)-pyrrolidin-2-yl]-pyridine(86.5 mg, 2.57 mmol), 2-fluro-methyaniline(64.7 mg, 5.14 mmol) and 2-(di-cyclohexylphosphino)-bi-pheny(38.5 mg, 0.13 mmol) in 20 mL of toluene at room temperature, were added Pd₂(dba)₃(117.6 mg, 0.13 mmol). The reaction mixture is stirred at 80° C. for 2 hrs, and then cooled to room temperature. The reaction mixture is filtered through celite, and the filtrate is diluted with 50 mL of EtOAc and washed with 2×50 mL of water. The combined organic layers were concentrated and purified by chromatography (CH₂Cl₂/MeOH: 97/3) to give (Z)-N-(2-Fluoro-phenyl)-N-methyl-N′-[1-[(S)-1-((R)-1-phenyl-ethyl)-pyrrolidin-2-yl]-prop-2-en-(E)-ylidene]-propenamidine(870 mg, 90.3%) as pale solid. M/Z=376.0 [M+1]

(Z)-N-(2-Fluoro-phenyl)-N-methyl-N′-[1-[(S)-1-((R)-1-phenyl-ethyl)-pyrrolidin-2-yl]-prop-2-en-(E)-ylidene]-propenamidine (6)

(Z)-N-(2-Fluoro-phenyl)-N-methyl-N′-[1-[(S)-1-((R)-1-phenyl-ethyl)-pyrrolidin-2-yl]-prop-2-en-(E)-ylidene]-propenamidine(500 mg, 1.33 mmol) is dissolved in 10 mL of MeOH in a 500 mL round bottle flask with 300 mg of Pd/C. The reaction mixture is stirred under H₂ gas(1 atm) from a balloon for 24 hours. After degasing under vacuum, the reaction mixture is filtered to remove catalyst. The crude product is purified by reverse phase HPLC to give give (Z)-N-(2-Fluoro-phenyl)-N-methyl-N′-[1-[(S)-1-((R)-1-phenyl-ethyl)-pyrrolidin-2-yl]-prop-2-en-(E)-ylidene]-propenamidine (200 mg, 55.4%) as yellow oil. M/Z=272.07 [M+1]

[(S)-1-Cyclohexyl-2-((S)-2-{1-[(E)-(Z)-N-(2-fluoro-phenyl)-N-methyl-1-imioxo-propenylimino]-allyl}-pyrrolidin-1-yl)-2-oxo-ethyl]-carbamic acid tert-butyl ester (7)

To a solution of Boc-L-α-cyclohexyglycine(204 mg, 0.79 mmol) in 5 mL of DMF at room temperature, is added diisopropylethylamine (0.58 mL, 3.3 mmol) slowly. After stirring at room temperature for 20 minutes, a solution of HOBT(116 mg, 0.86 mmol) and HBTU(325 mg, 0.86 mmol) in DMF (5 mL) is added to the reaction mixture, and the solution is transferred to another flask contained (Z)-N-(2-Fluoro-phenyl)-N-methyl-N′-[(S)-1-pyrrolidin-2-yl-prop-2-en-(E)-ylidene]-propenamidine(180 mg, 0.66 mmol). After stirring for 1 hr, the reaction solution is diluted with EtOAc (50 mL), and washed with water (3×20 mL). The combined organic layers is concentrated. The crude product is diluted with CH₂Cl₂ (10 mL) and dried over Na₂SO₄, and purified by chromatography (CH₂Cl₂/MeOH: 97/3) to give [(S)-1-Cyclohexyl-2-((S)-2-{1-[(E)-(Z)-N-(2-fluoro-phenyl)-N-methyl-1-imioxo-propenylimino]-allyl}-pyrrolidin-1-yl)-2-oxo-ethyl]-carbamic acid tert-butyl ester (320 mg, 94.5%) as pale gum. M/Z=511.14[M+1]

(Z)-N′-[1-[(S)-1-((S)-2-Amino-2-cyclohexyl-acetyl)-pyrrolidin-2-yl]-prop-2-en-(E)-ylidene]-N-(2-fluoro-phenyl)-N-methyl-propenamidine (8)

To a solution of [(S)-1-Cyclohexyl-2-((S)-2-{1-[(E)-(Z)-N-(2-fluoro-phenyl)-N-methyl-1-imioxo-propenylimino]-allyl}-pyrrolidin-1-yl)-2-oxo-ethyl]-carbamic acid tert-butyl ester (320 mg, 0.63 mmol) in CH₂Cl₂ (3 mL) at −20° C. is added TFA (5 ML, pre-cooled to −20° C.) slowly. After stirring at 0° C. for 30 min, the reaction mixture is concentrated to remove most of TFA. The residue is dissolved in 20 mL of CH₂Cl₂, and neutralized with 10% NH₄OH to PH=8. The solution is dried over Na₂SO₄ and concentrated to give (Z)-N′-[1-[(S)-1-((S)-2-Amino-2-cyc lohexyl-acetyl)-pyrrolidin-2-yl]-prop-2-en-(E)-ylidene]-N-(2-fluoro-phenyl)-N-methyl-propenamidine (260 mg, quantitative) as pale gum without further purification for next step reaction. M/Z=411.2 [M+1]

{(S)-1-[(S)-1-Cyclohexyl-2-((S)-2-{6-[(2-fluoro-phenyl)-methyl-amino]-pyridin-2-yl}-pyrrolidin-1-yl)-2-oxo-ethylcarbamoyl]-ethyl}-methyl-carbamic acid tert-butyl este (9)

To a solution of Boc-N-methyl-L-a-alanine(155 mg, 0.76 mmol) in 5 mL of DMF at room temperature, is added diisopropylethylamine (0.58 mL, 3.3 mmol) slowly. After stirring at room temperature for 20 minutes, a solution of HOBT(111 mg, 0.82 mmol) and HBTU(311 mg, 0.82 mmol) in DMF (5 mL) is added to the reaction mixture, and the solution is transferred to another flask contained (Z)-N′-[1-[(S)-1-((S)-2-Amino-2-cyclohexyl-acetyl)-pyrrolidin-2-yl]-prop-2-en-(E)-ylidene]-N-(2-fluoro-phenyl)-N-methyl-propenamidine (260 mg, 0.63 mmol). After stirring for 1 hr, the reaction solution is diluted with EtOAc (50 mL), and washed with water (3×20 mL). The combined organic layers is concentrated. The crude product is diluted with CH₂Cl₂ (10 mL) and dried over Na₂SO₄, and purified by chromatography (CH₂Cl₂/MeOH: 97/3) to give {(S)-1-[(S)-1-Cyclohexyl-2-((S)-2-{6-[(2-fluoro-phenyl)-methyl-amino]-pyridin-2-yl}-pyrrolidin-1-yl)-2-oxo-ethylcarbamoyl]-ethyl}-methyl-carbamic acid tert-butyl este (300 mg, 79.5%) as pale gum. M/Z=596.2[M+1]

(S)-N-[(S)-1-Cyclohexyl-2-((S)-2-{6-[(2-fluoro-phenyl)-methyl-amino]-pyridin-2-yl}-pyrrolidin-1-yl)-2-oxo-ethyl]-2-methylamino-propionamide (78)

To a solution of give {(S)-1-[(S)-1-Cyclohexyl-2-((S)-2-{6-[(2-fluoro-phenyl)-methyl-amino]-pyridin-2-yl}-pyrrolidin-1-yl)-2-oxo-ethylcarbamoyl]-ethyl}-methyl-carbamic acid tert-butyl este (300 mg, 0.50 mmol) in CH₂Cl₂ (1 mL) at −20° C. is added TFA (5 ML, pre-cooled to −20° C.) slowly. After stirring at 0° C. for 30 min, the reaction mixture is concentrated and purified by prep HPLC (Column: Waters Sunfire prep C18 30×100 mm; Mobile phase: isocratic condition, CH₃CN 28%/H₂O 72% with 0.1% TFA; Flow rate: 45 mL/min) to give (S)-N-[(S)-1-Cyclohexyl-2-((S)-2-{6-[(2-fluoro-phenyl)-methyl-amino]-pyridin-2-yl}-pyrrolidin-1-yl)-2-oxo-ethyl]-2-methylamino-propionamide(206 mg, 67.0%) as white solid TFA salt. (HR Mass M/Z=496.3069 [M+1]).

In order to measure the ability of the inventive compounds to bind the BIR3 peptide binding pocket an ELISA and a cell based assays are utilized.

Elisa

Compounds are incubated with GST-BIR3 fusion protein and biotinylated SMAC peptide (AVPFAQK) in stretavidin-coated 96 well plates. For XIAP BIR3 Smac Elisa, a GST-BIR3 fusion containing amino acids 248-358 from XIAP is used. For CIAP1 BIR3 Smac Elisa, a GST-BIR3 fusion containing amino acids 259-364 from CIAP1 is used. Following a 30 minute incubation, wells are extensively washed. The remaining GST-BIR3 fusion protein is monitored by ELISA assay involving first, incubation with goat anti-GST antibodies followed by washing and incubation with alkaline phosphatase conjugated anti-goat antibodies. Signal is amplified using Attophos (Promega) and read with Cytoflour Ex 450 nm/40 and Em 580 nm. IC₅₀s correspond to concentration of compound which displaces half of GST-BIR3 signal. The IC₅₀ for non-biotinylated Smac is 400 nM. The IC₅₀ values of compounds listed in Table 1 in the described ELISA assays ranged from 0.005-10 μM.

Cell Proliferation Assay

The ability of compounds to inhibit tumor cell growth in vitro is monitored using the CellTiter 96® AQ_(ueous) Non-Radioactive Cell Proliferation Assay (Promega). This assay is composed of solutions of a novel tetrazolium compound [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium, inner salt; MTS] and an electron coupling reagent (phenazine methosulfate) PMS. MTS is bioreduced by cells into a formazan product, the absorbance of which is measured at 490 nm. The conversion of MTS into the aqueous soluble formazan product is accomplished by dehydrogenase enzymes found in metabolically active cells. The quantity of formazan product as measured by the amount of 490 nm absorbance is directly proportional to the number of living cells in culture. The IC₅₀ values of compounds listed in Table 1 in the described cell assays ranged from 0.005-50 μM.

Examples 196-203

Additional compounds within the scope of the present invention include the following compound with the show stereoisomerism:

Example 196

Example 197

Example 198

Example 199

Example 200

Example 201

Example 202

Example 203

Tablets 1 Comprising Compounds of the Formula (I)

Tablets, comprising, as active ingredient, 50 mg of any one of the compounds of formula (I) mentioned in the preceding Examples 9-203 of the following composition are prepared using routine methods: Composition: Active Ingredient  50 mg Wheat starch  60 mg Lactose  50 mg Colloidal silica  5 mg Talcum  9 mg Magnesium stearate  1 mg Total 175 mg

Manufacture: The active ingredient is combined with part of the wheat starch, the lactose and the colloidal silica and the mixture pressed through a sieve. A further part of the wheat starch is mixed with the 5-fold amount of water on a water bath to form a paste and the mixture made first is kneaded with this paste until a weakly plastic mass is formed.

The dry granules are pressed through a sieve having a mesh size of 3 mm, mixed with a pre-sieved mixture (1 mm sieve) of the remaining corn starch, magnesium stearate and talcum and compressed to form slightly biconvex tablets.

Example 205 Tablets 2 Comprising Compounds of the Formula (I)

Tablets, comprising, as active ingredient, 100 mg of any one of the compounds of formula (I) of Examples 9-203 are prepared with the following composition, following standard procedures: Composition: Active Ingredient 100 mg Crystalline lactose 240 mg Avicel  80 mg PVPPXL  20 mg Aerosil  2 mg Magnesium stearate  5 mg Total 447 mg

Manufacture: The active ingredient is mixed with the carrier materials and compressed by means of a tabletting machine (Korsch EKO, Stempeldurchmesser 10 mm).

Example 206 Capsules

Capsules, comprising, as active ingredient, 100 mg of any one of the compounds of formula (I) given in Examples 9-203, of the following composition are prepared according to standard procedures: Composition: Active Ingredient   100 mg Avicel   200 mg PVPPXL   15 mg Aerosil    2 mg Magnesium stearate  1.5 mg Total 318.5 mg

Manufacturing is done by mixing the components and filling them into hard gelatine capsules, size 1.

Example 207 Preparation of N-[1-cyclohexyl-2-oxo-2-(6-phenethyl-octahydro-pyrrolo[2,3-c]pyrindin-1-yl)-ethyl]-2-methylamino-propionamide (9)

Step 1: Z7d+Z7c→Z7b

Into a 3-liter, 4-neck flask equipped with a mechanical stirrer, a thermometer, and an addition funnel are charged N-□-t-Boc-(S)-N-methylalanine Z7c (91.8 g, 0.45 mol), (S)-cyclohexylglycine methyl ester hydrochloride Z7d (93.6 g, 0.45 mol), 2-chloro4,6-dimethoxy-1,3,5-triazine (CDMT, 82.8 g, 0.47 mol), and EtOAc (1.8 L) under nitrogen purge. The resulting white suspension is cooled to 0-5° C. N-methylmorpholine (113.4 g, 1.12 mol) is added and the mixture is allowed to warm to 25° C. under vigorous stirring. The mixture is stirred for an additional 1.5 h. Any white precipitation is removed by filtration and rinsed with EtOAc (450 mL). The combined organic solution is washed with aqueous sat. NaHCO₃, aqueous 10% citric acid, and sat. sodium chloride solution. The organic layer is concentrated under vacuum at 25° C. to give a hazy oil. The oil is dissolved in MeOH (400 mL) and concentrated again under vacuum. The hazy oil is dissolved into MeOH (450 mL). Water (450 mL) is added to the solution under stirring. The resulting mixture is cooled to 10° C., seeded with solid Z7b, and stirred vigorously to obtain a white suspension. More water (450 mL) is added. The mixture is cooled to 0-5° C. and stirred for an additional 30 min. Any solid is collected by filtration, rinsed with water (450 mL), and dried under vacuum to give Z7b as a white solid (140 g, 87% yield): m.p.=74-77° C.; ¹H NMR (DMSO-d₆) δ 7.95 (bd, 1H), 4.52 (bd, 1H), 4.13 (s, 1H), 3.63 (s, 3H), 2.76 (s, 3H), 1.50-1.76 (m, 6H), 1.38 (s, 9H), 0.96-1.28 (m, 8H). Step 2: Z7b→Z7a

Into a 5-liter, 4-neck flask equipped with a mechanical stirrer, a thermometer, and an addition funnel are charged compound Z7b (128 g, 0.36 mol) and THF (2.4 L) under nitrogen purge. The resulting solution is cooled to 0-5° C. A solution of lithium hydroxide monohydrate (19.6 g, 0.47 mol) in water (1.6 L) is added, keeping the batch temperature below 17° C. After the addition, the mixture is warmed to 25° C. and stirred for an additional 1 h. A solution of citric acid (128 g) in water (350 mL) is added. The mixture is concentrated under vacuum at 25° C. to remove THF. The remaining aqueous solution is extracted with EtOAc twice. The combined organic layers are washed with water, dried over MgSO₄, and concentrated under vacuum at 25° C. to give an oil, which slowly crystallized in the freezer to furnish Z7a as a white solid (113 g, 92%): ¹H NMR (DMSO-d₆) δ 12.55 (s, 1H), 7.68 (bd, 1H), 4.52 (bd, 1H), 4.13 (s, 1H), 2.76 (s, 3H), 1.55-1.74 (m, 6H), 1.40 (s, 9H), 1.00-1.28 (m, 8H). Step 3: A7+Z7a→A8

Into a 500-mL, 4-neck flask equipped with a mechanical stirrer, a thermometer, and an addition funnel are charged amine hydrochloride salt A7 (16.8 g, 63 mmol) and THF (150 mL) under nitrogen purge. Potassium trimethylsilanolate (8.1 g, 63 mmol) is added and the mixture is stirred for an additional 15 min. A solution of Z7a (21.6 g, 63 mmol) in THF (150 mL) is added and the resulting mixture is cooled to −20° C. DMTMM (18 g, 65 mmol) is added and the mixture is allowed to warm to 20° C., and stirred for an additional 45 min. Any precipitation is removed by filtration. The organic solution is concentrated under vacuum at 25° C. to obtain an oil. The oil is dissolved in EtOAc and washed in sequence with aqueous sat. NaHCO₃, sat. NaCl, and water (250 mL) containing 10% citric acid (10 mL). The organic layer is concentrated under vacuum at 25° C. to give a foamy solid (35.8 g), which is purified with chromatography (silica gel, EtOAc first, followed by CH₂Cl₂:MeOH=94:6) to obtain compound A8 as a foamy solid (28.0 g, 80% yield): ¹H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl₃) δ 7.15-7.31 (m, 5H), 6.60 (bs, 1H), 4.64 (t, J=8.6 Hz, 0.5H), 4.50 (t, J=8.5 Hz, 0.5H), 4.30 (m, 0.5H), 4.06 (m, 0.5H), 3.72 (q, 9.5 Hz, 0.5H), 3.55-3.65 (m, 1H), 3.45 (m, 0.5H), 3.30 (m, 0.5H), 3.13 (m, 0.5H), 2.75-2.90 (m, 6H), 2.55-2.70 (m, 3H), 2.42 (m, 0.5H), 2.00-2.35 (m, 3.5H), 1.60-1.90 (m, 9H), 1.50 (s, 9H), 1.32 (m, 3H), 0.95-1.25 (m, 6H). Step 4: A8→9

Into a 1 L, 4-neck flask equipped with a mechanical stirrer, a thermometer, and an addition funnel are charged compound A8 (33.2 g, 60 mmol), MeOH (330 mL), and conc. HCl (35.4 g, 360 mmol). The mixture is stirred at 40° C. for 16 h. The mixture is concentrated under vacuum to remove MeOH. An aqueous solution of KHCO₃ (69 g, 690 mmol) in water (500 mL) is added to the residue. The product is extracted into EtOAc, washed with sat. NaCl, dried over MgSO₄, and concentrated under vacuum to yield an oil. The oil is seeded with crystalline 9, and stirred in heptane to obtain 9 as a white solid (24.6 g, 90%): m.p.=103-105° C.; ¹H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl₃) δ 7.63 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 0.5H), 7.54 (d, J=9.5 Hz, 0.5H), 7.16-7.32 (m, 5H), 4.62 (t, J=8.8Hz, 0.5H), 4.52 (t, J=9.1 Hz, 0.5H), 4.3 (m, 0.5H), 4.15 (m, 0.5H), 3.78 (q, 8.9 Hz, 0.5H), 3.41-3.71 (m, 2 H), 3.05-3.17 (m, 1.5H), 2.60-2.95 (m, 5H), 2.45 (m, 0.5H), 2.42 (d, 5.8 Hz, 3H), 2.40 (m, 1H), 1.95-2.20 (m, 3H), 1.60-1.95 (m, 8.5H), 1.32 (t, J=5.2 Hz, 3H), 1.00-1.30 (m, 6H); ¹³C NMR (125 MHz, CDCl₃) δ 175.0, 174.6, 170.9, 170.6, 140.7, 140.6, 129.2, 129.1, 128.7, 126.3, 60.72, 60.68, 60.65, 56.4, 55.8, 55.0, 54.8, 54.2, 53.1, 49.8, 48.6, 46.4, 44.9, 42.2, 41.3, 36.2, 35.3, 34.2, 34.0, 33.9, 30.1, 29.9, 29.2, 28.9, 27.4, 26.61, 26.57, 26.52, 26.45, 26.42, 26.37, 26.1, 25.9, 24.4.

Example 208 Preparation of 6-phenethyl-octahydro-pyrrolo[2,3-c]pyridine (A7)

Step 1: A1+A2→A3

Into a 12-liter, 4-neck flask equipped with a mechanical stirrer, a thermometer and an addition funnel are charged phenethylamine A1 (2 kg, 16.7 mol), potassium carbonate (766 g, 5.6 mol, 325 mesh), and acetonitrile (8 L) under nitrogen atmosphere. 4-Bromo-1-butene (576 g, 5 mol) is added slowly at 20-25° C. over a period of 30 min. After the addition, the mixture is heated to 50° C. and stirred for an additional 3 h. The mixture is cooled to rt and stirred for an additional 12 h. The stirrer is stopped and any solid is allowed to settle. The supernatant (organic solution) is separated from the solid by siphoning. The remaining solid is filtered through a pad of celite, which is rinsed with acetonitrile (1 L). The organic solutions containing A3 are combined and evaporated under vacuum. The remaining concentrate is distilled under high vacuum to remove excess phenethylamine until its content in the pot residue is 1% or less. The remaining oil, compound A3, can be used as is. ¹H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl₃) δ 7.20-7.35 (m, 5H), 5.79 (m,1H) 5.00-5.10 (m, 2H), 2.92 (m, 2H), 2.84 (t, J=6.8 Hz, 2H), 2.73 (t, J=6.8 Hz, 2H), 2.27 (m, 2H). Step 2: M3c+M3b→M3a

Into a 22-liter, 4-neck flask equipped with a mechanical stirrer, a thermometer, and an addition funnel are charged (R)-(+)-1-(1-naphthyl)ethylamine M3b (823 g, 4.8 mol) and acetonitrile (12.5 L) under nitrogen atmosphere. To this solution, potassium carbonate (1.33 kg, 9.6 mol) and 2,3-dibromopropionate M3c (1.42 kg, 5.8 mol) are added. The mixture is heated to 60° C. and stirred for an additional 2 h. The mixture is cooled to rt and stirred for another 16 h. Any solid is removed by filtration. The filtrate is concentrated under vacuum to obtain an oily residue. The oil is dissolved into tert-butyl methyl ether (2 L) and hexane (1 L), filtered through a pad of celite, and concentrated under vacuum to yield a brown oil (1.52 kg). The oil is purified by chromatography (silica gel; ethyl acetate/heptane 35:65) to obtain product M3a as an oil (1.18 kg, 96% yield): ¹H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl₃) δ 7.75-8.05 (m, 4H), 7.50 (m, 3H), 3.84 (s, 1.2 H), 3.72 (s, 1.8 H), 3.35 (m, 1 H), 2.50 (s, 0.6 H), 2.37 (m, 0.4 H), 2.25 (s, 0.4 H), 2.10 (m, 0.6 H), 1.95 (d, J=6.4 Hz, 0.6 H), 1.60-1.70 (m, 3.4 H). Step 3: A3→A4

Into a 22-liter, 4-neck flask equipped with a mechanical stirrer, a thermometer, and an addition funnel are charged M3a (1.11 kg, 4.35 mol) under nitrogen atmosphere. To the solution, potassium trimethylsilanolate (558 g, 4.35 mol) is added over a period of 20 min. After the addition, the mixture is stirred at rt for an additional 16 h. The mixture is concentrated under vacuum at 30° C. to give an oily residue. The oil is dissolved in dichloromethane (11 L) and cooled to 0° C. Pivaloyl chloride (551 g, 4.6 mol) is added slowly and the mixture is warmed to rt, and stirred for an additional 1 h. The mixture is cooled to 0-5° C. and compound A3 (800 g, 4.57 mol) is added. The mixture is warmed to rt and stirred for an additional 16 h. An aqueous solution of 1N NaOH (5 L) is added. The organic layer is separated, dried over MgSO₄, and concentrated under vacuum at 30° C. to obtain compound A4 an oil (1.97 kg), which will be used for the next step without further purification. Step4: A4→A5

Into a 2-liter, 4-neck flask equipped with a mechanical stirrer, a thermometer, and an addition funnel is charged DW-therm (900 g, a mixture of triethoxyalkylsilane, purchased from Huber) under nitrogen atmosphere. The solvent is heated to 240° C. A solution of amide A4 (443 g, 1.1 mol) in DW-therm (400 g) is added over a period of 45 min, maintaining the batch temperature at 240° C. After the addition, the mixture is stirred for an additional 20 min. The mixture is cooled to rt and allowed to settle into a two-phase solution. The thick bottom layer is separated and purified by chromatography (silica gel; EtOAc/heptane/diethylamine 40:60:1) to isolate the first crop of product A5 as an solid. The upper layer is concentrated under vacuum at 60-70° C./0.5 mmHg until small amount of DW-therm is present. The residual oil is purified by chromatography (silica gel; EtOAc/heptane/diethylamine 40:60:1) to isolate the second crop of product A5. Both crops of A5 are combined and recrystallized from a mixture of tert-butyl methyl ether and heptane to afford A5 as a solid: m.p. 103-106° C. ¹H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl₃) δ 8.36 (m, 1H), 7.80 (m, 1H), 7.72 (d, J=8.2 Hz, 1H), 7.47 (d, J=7.3 Hz, 1H), 7.40 (m, 3H), 7.28 (m, 4H), 7.20 (m, 1H), 5.36 (q, J=6.7 Hz, 1H), 3.76 (m, 1H), 3.65 (m, 1H), 3.51 (d, J=8.2 Hz, 1H), 3.35 (m, 1H), 2.92-3.05 (m, 3H), 2.45-2.55 (m, 2H), 2.22 (m, 1H), 1.65-1.80 (m, 2H), 1.57 (d, J=6.7 Hz, 3H), 1.53 (m, 1H), 1.27 (m, 1H). ¹³C NMR (125 MHz, CDCl₃) δ 170.0, 140.3, 139.7, 134.4, 132.9, 129.3, 129.0, 128.6, 128.7, 126.8, 125.7, 125.65, 125.61, 125.27, 124.0, 61.9, 52.1, 50.3, 45.6, 4.6, 36.7, 34.6, 29.6, 28.9, 9.5. Step 5: A5→A6

Into a 3-liter, 4-neck flask equipped with a mechanical stirrer, a thermometer, and an addition funnel are charged compound A5 (40 g, 0.1 mol) and toluene (600 mL) under nitrogen atmosphere. The solution is cooled to −70° C. A solution of 1.5M DIBAL in toluene (200 mL, 0.3 mol) is added slowly, maintaining the batch temperature at −70° C. The mixture is warmed to rt over a period of 45 min and stirred for an additional 2 h. Ethyl acetate (200 mL) is added, maintaining the batch temperature at 20-25° C. A saturated aqueous solution of NaHCO₃ (100 mL) is added, keeping the batch temperature at 20-35° C. After the addition, the batch is stirred at rt for an additional 1 h. Any white solid is removed by filtration and rinsed with EtOAc. The combined filtrate is ished with 15% aqueous NaCl solution and concentrated under vacuum at 35° C. to yield an oil (44.3 g). The oil is purified by chromatography (silica gel; EtOAc/heptane/diethylamine 80:20:1) to obtain product A6 as an oil (36.5 g, 95% yield): ¹H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl₃) δ 8.62.(s, 1H), 7.85 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 7.75 (d, J=7.9 Hz, 1H), 7.62 (s, 1H), 7.32-7.52 (m, 3H), 7.10-7.32 (m, 5H), 4.56 (m, 1H), 3.15 (s, 1H), 2.48-2.85 (m, 8H), 2.25 (m, 3H), 1.65-1.90 (m, 4H), 1.55 (d, J=6.1 Hz, 3H). Step 6: A6→A7

Into a 2.5-liter Parr bottle are charged 20% Pd(OH)₂ on carbon (11.2 g, 50% wet) under nitrogen atmosphere. A solution of compound A6 (56 g, 0.15 mol) in methanol (1 L) is added. The mixture is hydrogenated at 50 psi for 16 h until all A6 is consumed. The mixture is filtered through a pad of celite under nitrogen atmosphere. The filtrate is concentrated under vacuum at 35° C. to give an oil. The oil containing A7 and the by-product is dissolved into ethyl acetate. A solution of 6N HCl in IPA (27 mL) is diluted with EtOAc (60 mL) and added to the solution containing A7 over a period of 40 min at 18-27° C. After the addition, the mixture is cooled to 0° C. and stirred for an additional 1 h. Any solid is collected by filtration to obtain A7 hydrochloride salt as a white solid (33 g, 82%): m.p.=172-178° C. ¹H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl₃) δ 7.12-7.32 (m, 5H), 3.50 (s, 1H), 3.15-3.35 (m, 2H), 2.45-2.95 (m, 8H), 2.20 (s, 2H), 1.95 (m, 1H), 1.70 (m, 2H), 1.45 (s, 1H). By treating the hydrochloride salt with aqueous 1N NaOH solution, the free base of A7 is obtained as an oil: ¹H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl₃) δ 7.15-7.35 (m, 5H), 3.05 (m, 1H), 2.96 (q_(AB), J=8.2, 4.0 Hz, 1H), 2.87 (m, 2H), 2.70 (m, 2H), 2.60 (m, 1H), 2.49 (m, 2H), 2.40 (bs, 1H), 2.30 (dd, J=11.6, 3.7 Hz, 1H), 2.02 (td, J=11.0, 3.0 Hz, 1H), 1.88 (m, 1H), 1.77 (m, 1H), 1.52 (m, 2H), 1.36 (m, 1H). ¹³C NMR (125 Hz, CDCl₃) δ 141.0, 129.1, 128.7, 126.3, 60.9, 58.6, 55.0, 53.0, 44.9, 36.6, 34.1, 31.9, 27.8. Rotation: α²⁵ _(Na)=−11.5° [c 9.57 mg/1 mL CH₃CN].

Example 209 Preparation of 6-phenethyl-octahydro-pyrrolo[2,3-c]pyridine (A7)

Step 1: Compound (A3)

A 1-L flask is charged with 2-phenylethylamine A2 (47.62 g, 393 mmol), K₂CO₃ (163.7 g, 1.184 mol), 4-bromo-1-butene A1 (35.5 g, 263 mmol), Nal (177 g, 1.184 mol) and DMF (500 mL). The reaction mixture is heated to 100° C. and hold at this temperature for 22 h. Cool the reaction mixture to 20° C., add water (700 mL) and TBME (700 mL). The organic layer is washed with water, dried over MgSO₄ and concentrated to give yellow oil which is further purified by distillation under reduced pressure to give 35.1 g of A3 in 76% yield.

Step 2: Compound (B6)

A solution of M3c (25.27 g, 103 mmol) in methanol (75 mL) is slowly added to a pre-cooled solution of benzyl amine 4 (38.37 g, 360 mmol) in methanol (250 mL) at 5-6° C. The reaction mixture is warmed to 20-25° C. and maintained at this temperature for 18 h. The reaction mixture is concentrated and TBME (500 mL) and water (500 mL) are added. The organic layer is washed with water, dried over MgSO₄ and concentrated to give yellow oil. The crude is further purified with column chromatography on silica gel (EtOAc/Hexanes=1/1) to give 15.43 g of B6 in 78% yield.

Step 3: Compound (B7)

KOTMS (6.38 g, 49.75 mmol) is added to a solution of B6 (9.51 g, 49.75 mmol) in THF (200 mL). The mixture is stirred overnight at room temperature. The mixture is concentrated and the residue dissolved in dichloromethane (200 mL) and cooled to 0° C. Trimethylacetyl chloride (5.94 g, 49.25 mmol) is added slowly and the mixture is warmed to room temperature over 2 hours. The mixture is cooled to −78° C., 3 (8.63 g, 49.24) is added and stirred at −78° C. for 1.5 hours. Saturated sodium bicarbonate (100 mL) is added. The mixture is extracted with EtOAc (4×100 mL). The organic extracts are combined, dried and concentrated under vacuum. The residue is purified by flash chromatography (silica gel; Hexane/EtOAc 1:8) to provide 12.5 g (76%) of the title compound B7.

Step 4: Compound (B8)

A solution of B7 (10.7 g, 32 mmol) in DW-Therm Transfer (8 mL) is added within 15 min to a flask containing DW-Therm Transfer fluid (10 mL) at 240° C. and this temperature maintained for 30 min. The DW-Therm is distilled under vacuum and the residue is purified by flash chromatography on silica gel (EtOAc/Hexanes) to give 7.50 g of the racemic compound B8 in 70% yield.

Step 5: Compound (B9)

At 20° C., 30 mmol of LAH (1M in THF) is slowly added to a solution of 9.94 g (30 mmol) of B8 in THF (220 mL), then 60° C. for 3 h. While stirring, 1.1 g of water is added, then 1.1 mL of 15% NaOH (aq), stir, and then 3.4 mL of water is added. The suspension is stirred for 20 min, then filtered through a celite bed. The filtrate is washed with water two times, then brine, then the aqueous layers are combined and extracted with TBME. The organic layer is dried with MgSO₄, and the solvents removed. The product, 8.79 g B9, is obtained as clear amber color oil. Yield: 8.79 g (92 %). HPLC purity 96.7 %.

Step 6: Compound (B 10)

8.65 g (27 mmol) of 9, 1.1 g of 10% Pd/C (50% wet), and 250 mL of MeOH are stirred under 60 psi hydrogen at RT overnight. The mixture is filtered and then concentrated to obtain 6.28 g of 10 as a yellow oil. Yield: 6.28 g (84%).

Step 7: Compound (B 11)

16.10 g (70 mol) of B 10 is dissolved in a solution of 85 mL of 2-propanol and 127 mL of 200 proof ethanol. To the clear solution is slowly added a solution of 25.08 g of (+)-dibenzoyl-D-tartaric acid in 84 mL of 200 proof ethanol. 425 mL of toluene is added and stirred for 15 hours at room temperature. The solids are filtered, and the cake rinsed with 30 mL of a mixed solvents (2-propanol:ethanol:toluene=1:2.5:5.0 [v/v/v]). Dry at 50° C. in a vacuum oven. Obtain 21.6 g of B 11 as white crystals. Yield: 18.95 g (92%); HPLC Chemical purity: >99%; Optical purity: >99%; Rotation: α²⁵ _(Na)=+69.4° [c 10.3 mg/in 1 mL CH₃CN/H₂O (1/1)].

Step 8: Compound A7

18.07 g of B 11 is mixed and stirred with 90 mL of 1N sodium hydroxide solution, then extracted with methyl t-butyl ether. The organic layer is washed with water, dry with MgSO₄, filtered, and then concentrated to a minimum volume. 6.89 g of A7 identical in all respects with the one described earlier is obtained. Yield: 6.89 g (99%); HPLC: Chemical purity: >99%; Optical purity: >99%; Rotation: α²⁵ _(Na)=−11.5° [c 9.57 mg/1 mL CH₃CN] ¹H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl₃) δ 7.15-7.35 (m, 5H), 3.05 (m, 1H), 2.96 (q_(AB), J=8.2, 4.0 Hz, 1H), 2.87 (m, 2H), 2.70 (m, 2H), 2.60 (m, 1H), 2.49 (m, 2H), 2.40 (bs, 1H), 2.30 (dd, J=11.6, 3.7 Hz, 1H), 2.02 (td, J=11.0, 3.0 Hz, 1H), 1.88 (m, 1H), 1.77 (m, 1H), 1.52 (m, 2H), 1.36 (m, 1H). ¹³C NMR (125 Hz, CDCl₃) δ 141.0, 129.1, 128.7, 126.3, 60.9, 58.6, 55.0, 53.0, 44.9, 36.6, 34.1, 31.9, 27.8. 

1. A compound according to formula I

wherein R₁ is H; C₁-C₄ alkyl; C₁-C₄ alkenyl; C₁-C₄ alkynyl or C₃-C₁₀cycloalkyl which are unsubstituted or substituted; R₂ is H; C₁-C₄ alkyl; C₁-C₄ alkenyl; C₁-C₄ alkynyl or C₃-C₁₀cycloalkyl which are unsubstituted or substituted; R₃ is H; —CF₃; —C₂F₅; C₁-C₄ alkyl; C₁-C₄ alkenyl; C₁-C₄ alkynyl; —CH₂-Z or R₂ and R₃ together with the nitrogen form a het ring; Z is H; —OH; F; Cl; —CH₃; —CF₃; —CH₂Cl; —CH₂F or —CH₂OH; R₄ is C₁-C₁₆ straight or branched alkyl; C₁-C₁₆ alkenyl; C₁-C₁₆ alkynyl; or —C₃-C₁₀cycloalkyl; —(CH₂)₁₋₆-Z₁; —(CH₂)₀₋₆-aryl; and —(CH₂)₀₋₆-het; wherein alkyl, cycloalkyl and phenyl are unsubstituted or substituted; Z₁ is —N(R₈)—C(O)—C₁-C₁₀alkyl; —N(R₈)—C(O)—(CH₂)₁₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl; —N(R₈)—C(O)—(CH₂)₀₋₆-phenyl; —N(R₈)—C(O)—(CH₂)₁₋₆-het; —C(O)—N(R₉)(R₁₀); —C(O)—O—C₁-C₁₀alkyl; —C(O)—O—(CH₂)₁₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl; —C(O)—O—(CH₂)₀₋₆-phenyl; —C(O)—O—(CH₂)₁₋₆-het; —O—C(O)—C₁-C₁₀alkyl; —O—C(O)—(CH₂)₁₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl; —O—C(O)—(CH₂)₀₋₆-phenyl; —O—C(O)—(CH₂)₁₋₆-het; wherein alkyl, cycloalkyl and phenyl are unsubstituted or substituted; het is a 5-7 membered heterocyclic ring containing 1-4 heteroatoms selected from N, O and S, or an 8-12 membered fused ring system including at least one 5-7 membered heterocyclic ring containing 1, 2 or 3 heteroatoms selected from N, O, and S, which heterocyclic ring or fused ring system is unsubstituted or substituted on a carbon or nitrogen atom; R₈ is H; —CH₃; —CF₃; —CH₂OH or —CH₂Cl; R₉ and R₁₀ are each independently H; C₁-C₄alkyl; C₃-C₇cycloalkyl; —(CH₂)₁₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl; —(CH₂)₀₋₆-phenyl; wherein alkyl, cycloalkyl and phenyl are unsubstituted or substituted, or R₉ and R₁₀ together with the nitrogen form het; R₅ is H; C₁-C₁₀-alkyl; aryl; phenyl; C₃-C₇cycloalkyl; —(CH₂)₁₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl; —C₁-C₁₀alkyl-aryl; —(CH₂)₀₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl-(CH₂)₀₋₆-phenyl; —(CH₂)₀₋₄CH—((CH₂)₁₋₄-phenyl)₂; —(CH₂)₀₋₆—CH(phenyl)₂; -indanyl; —C(O)—C₁-C₁₀alkyl; —C(O)—(CH₂)₁₋₆—C₃-C₇-cycloalkyl; —C(O)—(CH₂)₀₋₆-phenyl; —(CH₂)₀₋₆—C(O)-phenyl; —(CH₂)₀₋₆-het; —C(O)—(CH₂)₁₋₆-het; or R₅ is a residue of an amino acid, wherein the alkyl, cycloalkyl, phenyl and aryl substituents are unsubstituted or substituted; U is as shown in structure II:

wherein n=0-5; X is —CH or N; Ra and Rb are independently an O, S, or N atom or C₀₋₈ alkyl wherein one or more of the carbon atoms in the alkyl chain may be replaced by a heteroatom selected from O, S or N, and where the alkyl may be unsubstituted or substituted; Rd is selected from: (a) —Re-Q-(Rf)_(p)(Rg)_(q); or (b) Ar₁-D-Ar₂; Rc is H or Rc and Rd may together form a cycloalkyl or het; where if Rd and Rc form a cycloalkyl or het, R₅ is attached to the formed ring at a C or N atom; p and q are independently 0 or 1; Re is C₁₋₈ alkyl or alkylidene, and Re which may be unsubstituted or substituted; Q is N, O, S, S(O), or S(O)₂; Ar₁ and Ar₂ are substituted or unsubstituted aryl or het; Rf and Rg are each independently H; —C₁-C₁₀alkyl; C₁-C₁₀alkylaryl; —OH; —O—C₁-C₁₀alkyl; —(CH₂)₀₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl; —O—(CH₂)₀₋₆-aryl; phenyl; aryl; phenyl-phenyl; —(CH₂)₁₋₆-het; —O—(CH₂)₁₋₆-het; —OR₁₁; —C(O)—R₁₁; —C(O)—N(R₁₁)(R₁₂); —N(R₁₁)(R₁₂); —S—R₁₁; —S(O)—R₁₁; —S(O)₂—R₁₁; —S(O)₂—NR₁₁R₁₂; —NR₁₁—S(O)₂—R₁₂; S—C₁-C₁₀alkyl; aryl-C₁-C₄alkyl; het-C₁-C₄-alkyl wherein alkyl, cycloalkyl, het and aryl are unsubstituted or substituted; —SO₂₋C₁₋C₂alkyl; —SO₂₋C₁₋C₂alkylphenyl; —O—C₁-C₄alkyl; or R_(g) and R_(f) form a ring selected from het or aryl; D is —CO—; —C(O)—C₁₋₇ alkylene or arylene; —CF₂—; —O—; —S(O)_(r) where r is 0-2; 1,3dioaxolane; or C₁₋₇ alkyl-OH; where alkyl, alkylene or arylene may be unsubstituted or substituted with one or more halogens, OH, —O—C₁-C₆alkyl, —S—C₁-C₆alkyl or —CF₃; or D is —N(Rh) wherein Rh is H; C₁₋₇ alkyl (unsub or substituted); aryl; —O(C₁₋₇cycloalkyl) (unsub or substituted); C(O)—C₁-C₁₀alkyl; C(O)—C_(o-C) ₁₀alkyl-aryl; C—O—C₁-C₁₀alkyl; C—O—C_(o)-C₁₀alkyl-aryl or SO₂—C₁-C₁₀-alkyl; SO₂—(C_(o)-C₁₀-alkylaryl); R₆, R₇, R′₆ and R′₇ are each independently H; —C₁-C₁₀alkyl; —C₁-C₁₀ alkoxy; aryl-C₁-C₁₀ alkoxy; —OH; —O—C₁-C₁₀alkyl; —(CH₂)₀₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl; —O—(CH₂)₀₋₆-aryl; phenyl; —(CH₂)₁₋₆-het; —O—(CH₂)₁₋₆-het; —OR₁₁; —C(O)—R₁₁; —C(O)—N(R₁₁)(R₁₂); —N(R₁₁)(R₁₂); —S—R₁₁; —S(O)—R₁₁; —S(O)₂—R₁₁; —S(O)₂—NR₁₁R₁₂; —NR₁₁—S(O)₂—R₁₂; wherein alkyl, cycloalkyl and aryl are unsubstituted or substituted; and R₆, R₇, R′₆ and R′₇ can be united to form a ring system; R₁₁ and R₁₂ are independently H; C₁-C₁₀ alkyl; —(CH₂)₀₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl; —(CH₂)₀₋₆—(CH)₀₋₁(aryl)₁₋₂; —C(O)—C₁-C₁₀alkyl; —C(O)—(CH₂)₁₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl; —C(O)—O—(CH₂)₀₋₆-aryl; —C(O)—(CH₂)₀₋₆—O-fluorenyl; —C(O)—NH—(CH₂)₀₋₆-aryl; —C(O)—(CH₂)₀₋₆-aryl; —C(O)—(CH₂)₁₋₆-het; —C(S)-C₁-C₁₀alkyl; —C(S)—(CH₂)₁₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl; —C(S)—O—(CH₂)₀₋₆-aryl; —C(S)-(CH₂)₀₋₆—O-fluorenyl; —C(S)—NH—(CH₂)₀₋₆-aryl; —C(S)—(CH₂)₀₋₆-aryl; —C(S)—(CH₂)₁₋₆-het; wherein alkyl, cycloalkyl and aryl are unsubstituted or substituted; or R₁₁ and R₁₂ are a substituent that facilitates transport of the molecule across a cell membrane; or R₁₁ and R₁₂ together with the nitrogen atom form het; wherein the alkyl substituents of R₁₁ and R₁₂ may be unsubstituted or substituted by one or more substituents selected from C₁-C₁₀alkyl, halogen, OH, —O—C₁-C₆alkyl, —S—C₁-C₆alkyl or —CF₃; substituted cycloalkyl substituents of R₁₁ and R₁₂ are substituted by one or more substituents selected from a C₁-C₁₀ alkene; C₁-C₆alkyl; halogen; OH; —O—C₁-C₆alkyl; —S—C₁-C₆alkyl or —CF₃; and substituted phenyl or aryl of R₁₁ and R₁₂ are substituted by one or more substituents selected from halogen; hydroxy; C₁-C₄ alkyl; C₁-C₄ alkoxy; nitro; —CN; —O—C(O)—C₁-C₄alkyl and —C(O)—O—C₁-C₄-aryl, or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof.
 2. A compound formula (I) according to claim 1 wherein R₁ is H; —C₁-C₄ alkyl; —C₁-C₄ alkenyl; —C₁-C₄ alkynyl or cycloalkyl which are unsubstituted or substituted by one or more substituents selected from halogen, —OH, —SH, —OCH₃, —SCH₃, —CN, —SCN and nitro; R₂ is H; —C₁-C₄alkyl; —C₁-C₄ alkenyl; —C₁-C₄ alkynyl or cycloalkyl which are unsubstituted or substituted by one or more substituents selected from halogen, —OH, —SH, —OCH₃, —SCH₃, —CN, —SCN and nitro; R₃ is H; —CF₃; —C₂F₅; —C₁-C₄alkyl; —C₁-C₄alkenyl; —C₁-C₄alkynyl; —CH₂-Z or R₂ and R₃ together with the nitrogen form a het; Z is H; —OH; F; Cl; —CH₃; —CF₃; —CH₂Cl; —CH₂F or —CH₂OH; R₄ is C₁-C₁₆ straight or branched alkyl; C₁-C₁₆ alkenyl; C₁-C₁₆ alkynyl; or cycloalkyl; —(CH₂)₁₋₆-Z₁; —(CH₂)₀₋₆-phenyl; and —(CH₂)₀₋₆-het; wherein alkyl, cycloalkyl and phenyl are unsubstituted or substituted; Z₁ is —N(R₈)—C(O)—C₁-C₁₀ alkyl; —N(R₈)—C(O)—(CH₂)₁₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl; —N(R₈)—C(O)—(CH₂)₀₋₆-phenyl; —N(R₈)—C(O)—(CH₂)₁₋₆-het; —C(O)—N(R₉)(R₁₀); —C(O)—O—C₁-C₁₀alkyl; —C(O)—O—(CH₂)₁₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl; —C(O)—O—(CH₂)₀₋₆-phenyl; —C(O)—O—(CH₂)₁₋₆-het; —O—C(O)—C₁-C₁₀alkyl; —O—C(O)—(CH₂)₁₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl; —O—C(O)—(CH₂)₀₋₆-phenyl; —O—C(O)—(CH₂)₁₋₆-het, wherein alkyl, cycloalkyl and phenyl are unsubstituted or substituted; het is a 5-7 membered heterocyclic ring containing 1-4 heteroatoms selected from N, O, and S, or an 8-12 membered fused ring system including at least one 5-7 membered heterocyclic ring containing 1, 2 or 3 heteroatoms selected from N, O, and S, which heterocyclic ring or fused ring system is unsubstituted or substituted on a carbon atom by halogen, hydroxy, C₁-C₄alkyl, C₁-C₄ alkoxy, nitro, —O—C(O)—C₁-C₄alkyl or —C(O)—O—C₁-C₄-alkyl or on a nitrogen by C₁-C₄ alkyl, —O—C(O)—C₁-C₄alkyl or —C(O)—O—C₁-C₄alkyl; R₈ is H, —CH₃, —CF₃, —CH₂OH or —CH₂Cl; R₉ and R₁₀ are each independently H; —C₁-C₄alkyl; C₃-C₇cycloalkyl; —(CH₂)₁₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl; —(CH₂)₀₋₆-phenyl; wherein alkyl, cycloalkyl and phenyl are unsubstituted or substituted, or R₉ and R₁₀ together with the nitrogen form het; R₅ is H; C₁-C₁₀alkyl; C₃-C₇cycloalkyl; —(CH₂)₁₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl; —C₁-C₁₀alkyl-aryl; —(CH₂)₀₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl-(CH₂)₀₋₆-phenyl; —(CH₂)₀₋₄CH—((CH₂)₁₋₄-phenyl)₂; —(CH₂)₀₋₆—CH(phenyl)₂; -indanyl; —C(O)—C₁-C₁₀alkyl; —C(O)—(CH₂)₁₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl; —C(O)—(CH₂)₀₋₆-phenyl; —(CH₂)₀₋₆-het; —C(O)—(CH₂)₁₋₆-het; or R₅ is a residue of an amino acid, wherein alkyl, cycloalkyl, phenyl and aryl are unsubstituted or substituted; U is a as shown in structure II:

wherein n=0-5; X is —CH or N; Ra and Rb are independently an O, S, or N atom or C₀₋₈ alkyl wherein one or more of the carbon atoms in the alkyl chain may be replaced by a heteroatom selected from O, S or N, and where the alkyl may be unsubstituted or substituted; Rd is selected from: (a) Re-Q-(Rf)_(p)(Rg)_(q); or (b) Ar₁-D-Ar₂; p and q are independently 0 or 1; Rc is H or Rd and Rc together form cycloalkyl or het; where if Rd and Rc form a cycloalkyl or heteroring, R₅ is attached to the formed ring at a C or N atom; Re is C₁₋₈ alkyl which may be unsubstituted or substituted; Q is N, O, S, S(O), or S(O)₂; Ar₁ and Ar₂ are substituted or unsubstituted aryl or het; Rf and Rg are each independently H or substituted or unsubstituted C₀-C₁₀alkyl, or C₁-C₁₀alkylaryl; D is —CO—; —C(O)—C₁₋₇ alkylene or arylene; —CF₂—; —O—; —S(O)_(r) where r is 0-2; 1,3dioaxolane; or C₁₋₇ alkyl-OH; where alkyl, alkylene or arylene may be unsubstituted or substituted with one or more halogens, OH, —O—C₁-C₆alkyl, —S—C₁-C₆alkyl or —CF₃; or D is —N(Rh) wherein Rh is H; C₁₋₇ alkyl (unsub or substituted); aryl; —O(C₁₋₇cycloalkyl) (unsub or substituted); C(O)—C₁-C₁₀alkyl; C(O)—C_(o)-C₁₀alkyl-aryl; C—O—C₁-C₁₀alkyl; C—O—C_(o)-C₁₀alkyl-aryl or SO₂—C₁-C₁₀-alkyl; SO₂—(C_(o)-C₁₀-alkylaryl); and R₆, R₇, R′₆ and R′₇ are each independently H; —C₁-C₁₀alkyl; —OH; —O—C₁-C₁₀alkyl; —(CH₂)₀₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl; —O—(CH₂)₀₋₆-aryl; phenyl; —(CH₂)₁₋₆-het; —O—(CH₂)₁₋₆-het; —OR₁₁; —C(O)—R₁₁; —C(O)—N(R₁₁)(R₁₂); —N(R₁₁)(R₁₂); —S—R₁₁; —S(O)—R₁₁; —S(O)₂—R₁₁; —S(O)₂—NR₁₁R₁₂; —NR₁₁—S(O)₂—R₁₂; wherein alkyl, cycloalkyl and aryl are unsubstituted or substituted; or any R₆, R₇, R′₆ and R′₇ can be united to form a ring system; R₁₁ and R₁₂ are independently H; C₁-C₁₀alkyl; —(CH₂)₀₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl; —(CH₂)₀₋₆-(CH)₀₋₁(aryl)₁₋₂; —C(O)—C₁-C₁₀alkyl; —C(O)—(CH₂)₁₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl; —C(O)—O—(CH₂)₀₋₆-aryl; —C(O)—(CH₂)₀₋₆—O-fluorenyl; —C(O)—NH—(CH₂)₀₋₆-aryl; —C(O)—(CH₂)₀₋₆-aryl; —C(O)—(CH₂)₁₋₆-het; —C(S)—C₁-C₁₀alkyl; —C(S)—(CH₂)₁₋₆—C₃-C₇cycloalkyl; —C(S)—O—(CH₂)₀₋₆-aryl; —C(S)—(CH₂)₀₋₆—O-fluorenyl; —C(S)—NH—(CH₂)₀₋₆-aryl; —C(S)—(CH₂)₀₋₆-aryl; —C(S)—(CH₂)₁₋₆-het, wherein alkyl, cycloalkyl and aryl are unsubstituted or substituted; or R₁₁ and R₁₂ are a substituent that facilitates transport of the molecule across a cell membrane; or R₁₁ and R₁₂ together with the nitrogen are het; aryl of R₁₁ and R₁₂ can be phenyl, naphthyl, or indanyl which is unsubstituted or substituted; alkyl of R₁₁ and R₁₂ may be unsubstituted or substituted by one or more substituents selected from a C₁-C₁₀alkene, halogen, OH, —O—C₁-C₆alkyl, —S—C₁-C₆alkyl and —CF₃; cycloalkyl of R₁₁ and R₁₂ may be unsubstituted or substituted by one or more selected from a C₁-C₁₀ alkene, one or more halogens, C₁-C₆alkyl, halogen, OH, —O—C₁-C₆alkyl, —S—C₁-C₆alkyl or —CF₃; and phenyl or aryl of R₁₁ and R₁₂ may be unsubstituted or substituted by one or more substituents selected from halogen, hydroxy, C₁-C₄ alkyl, C₁-C₄ alkoxy, nitro, —CN, —O—C(O)—C₁-C₄alkyl and —C(O)—O—C₁-C₄-aryl; or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof.
 3. A compound according to claim 1 wherein R₁ and R₂ are independently H or substituted or unsubstituted C₁-C₄alkyl; R₄ is C₁-C₁₆ straight or branched alkyl, or C₃-C₁₀cycloalkyl, wherein the alkyl or cycloalkyl may be unsubstituted or substituted; R₅ is H; C₁-C₁₀alkyl; C₁-C₁₀alkyl-aryl; —C(O)—(CH₂)₀₋₆-Phenyl; —(CH₂)₀₋₆—C(O)-Phenyl; aryl; indanyl; naphthyl or R₅ is a residue of an amino acid, wherein the alkyl or aryl substituents are unsubstituted or substituted; U is as shown in structure II:

wherein n=0-5; X is —CH or N; Ra and Rb are independently an O, S, or N atom or C₀₋₈ alkyl wherein one or more of the carbon atoms in the alkyl chain may be replaced by a heteroatom selected from O, S or N, and where the alkyl may be unsubstituted or substituted; Rd is selected from (a) —Re-Q-(Rf)p(Rg)_(q); or (c) Ar₁-D-Ar₂; Rc is H or Rc and Rd together form cycloalkyl or het; where if Rd and Rc form a cycloalkyl or heteroring, R₅ is attached to the formed ring at a C or N atom; p and q are independently 0 or 1; Re is C₁₋₈ alkyl, or methylidene which may be unsubstituted or substituted; Q is N, O, S, S(O), or S(O)₂; Ar₁ and Ar₂ are substituted or unsubstituted aryl or het; Rf and Rg are each independently H or substituted or unsubstituted C₀-C₁₀alkyl; C₁-C₁₀alkylaryl; aryl-C₁-C₁₀alkyl; het-C₁-C₁₀alkyl —C(O)—C₁-C₄-alkyl-phenyl; —C(O)—C₁-C₄-alkyl; —SO₂—C₁-C₂alkyl; —SO₂—C₁-C₂alkylphenyl; —O—C₁-C₄-alky; D is —C(O)—; C₁₋₇ alkylene or arylene; —O—, or —S(O)_(r) where r is 0-2; where alkyl, alkylene or arylene which may be unsubstituted or substituted with one or more halogens; —OH; —O—C₁-C₆alkyl; —S—C₁-C₆alkyl or —CF₃; or D is NRh wherein Rh is H; C₁₋₇ alkyl (unsubtituted or substituted); aryl; —OC₁₋₇ cycloalkyl (unsubstituted or substituted); —CO—C₀₋₁₀ alkyl or aryl or SO₂—C₀₋₁₀-alkyl or aryl; and R₆, R₇, R′₆ and R′₇ are each independently H, —C₁-C₁₀alkyl, or —OH, alkoxy, or aryloxy; or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof.
 4. A compound according to claim 1 wherein U is a bicyclic saturated or unsaturated ring system, consisting of all carbon skeleton or with one or more heteroatoms such as O, N, S but preferably as shown in structure III:

wherein wherein any of the ring carbon atoms can be unsubstituted or substituted with any of the substituted defined above for R₆, R₇, R_(6′) and R₇′; X is CH or N; V is O, F₂, Cl₂, Br₂, I₂, S, YH, H₂, NH, or C₁-C₄ alkyl; W is —CH, or —N; n is 0-3; and m is 0-3.
 5. A compound according to claim 1 wherein the ring carbon atoms on U are substituted with subsituents independently selected from halo, H, OH, lower alkyl or lower alkoxy, wherein alkyl or alkoxy are unsubstituted or substituted by halogen, OH, lower alkyl or lower alkoxy.
 6. A compound according to claim 1 wherein R₁ and R₃ are preferably methyl or ethyl; R₂ is especially H methyl, ethyl, chloromethyl, dichloromethyl or trifluoromethyl; R₄ is —C₁-C₄alkyl; —C₃-C₇ cycloalky; —(CH₂)₁₋₆cycloalkyl; or —(CH₂)₀₋₆aryl; R₅ is —C₁-C₄alkyl-phenyl; —C(O)—C₁-C₄-alkyl-phenyl; —C₁-C₄—C(O)-alkyl-pheny or aryl, R₅ is particularly phenylmethyl, phenylethyl and phenylpropyl; indanyl, naphthyl; —C(O)—CH₂-phenyl or —CH₂—C(O)-phenyl; R₆ and R₇ are H or methyl; U has the structure of formula III:

wherein wherein any of the ring carbon atoms can be unsubstituted or substituted with any of the substituted defined above for R₆, R₇, R_(6′) and R₇′; X is N; V is O or H₂; W is —N; n is 1; and m is 1 or
 2. 7. A compound according to claim 1 wherein R₁ and R₃ are preferably methyl or ethyl; R₂ is H; R₄ is C₁-C₄alkyl; C₃-C₇ cycloalkyl; C₁-C₇ cycloalkyl-C₁-C₇alkyl; phenyl-C₁-C₇alkyl or aryl. R₄ is particularly methyl, ethyl, butyl, isopropyl, t-butyl, or cyclohexyl; —CH₂-cyclopentyl, —CH₂-cyclohexyl; —CH₂-cyclopropyl; phenyl or —CH₂-phenyl; R₅ is —C₁-C₄-alkyl-phenyl; —C(O)—C₁-C₄-alkyl-phenyl; —C₁-C₄—C(O)-alkyl-pheny or aryl. R₅ is particularly phenylethyl; indanyl, naphthyl; —C(O)—CH₂-phenyl; —CH₂—C(O) -phenyl; or (CF₃O)phenylethyl; R₆, R′₆, R₇ and R′₇ are H; U has the structure of formula III wherein wherein any of the ring carbon atoms can be unsubstituted or substituted with any of the substituted defined above for R₆, R₇, R_(6 ′) and R₇′; X is N; V is O or H₂; W is —N; n is 1; and m is 1 or
 2. 8. A compound according to claim 1 wherein R₁ and R₃ are preferably methyl or ethyl; R₂ is especially H, methyl, ethyl, chloromethyl, dichloromethyl or trifluoromethyl; R₄ is C₁-C₄alkyl or C₃-C₇ cycloalkyl particularly isopropyl, t-butyl, cyclopentyl, or cyclohexyl; R₅ is H; U has the structure of formula II wherein X is N; R₆, R′₆, R₇, and R′₇ are H; n is O; Rc is H; Ar₁ and Ar₂ are substituted or unsubstituted phenyl or het particularly tetrazolyl, 1,2,3-triazole, pyrazole, oxazole, pyrrolyl, triazine, pyrimidine, imidazol, oxadiazol; and and D is C₁ alkyl which may optionally be substituted with halo, especially F.
 9. A compound according to claim 1 wherein R₁ and R₃ are preferably methyl or ethyl; R₂ is especially H, methyl, ethyl, chloromethyl, dichloromethyl or trifluoromethyl; R₄ is C₁-C₄alkyl; C₃-C₇ cycloalkyl; C₁₋C₇ cycloalkyl-C₁-C₇alkyl; phenyl-C₁-C₇alkyl or aryl; R₅ is H; U has the structure of formula II wherein X is N; R₆, R′₆, R₇, and R′₇ are H; or R₆ is —C(O)—C₁-C₄-alkyl-phenyl and R′₆, R₇, and R′₇ are H; n is O; Rc is H; Ar₁ and Ar₂ are substituted or unsubstituted phenyl or het, particularly triazine, pyrimidine, pyridine, oxazole, 2,4-difluorophenyl, Cl-phenyl or fluorophenyl; and D is N(Rh), where Rh is H, Me, —CHO, —SO₂, —C(O), —CHOH, CF₃ or —SO₂CH₃.
 10. A compound according to claim 1 wherein R₁ and R₃ are preferably methyl or ethyl; R₂ is especially H, methyl, ethyl, chloromethyl, dichloromethyl or trifluoromethyl; R₄ is C₁-C₄alkyl; C₃-C₇ cycloalkyl; C₁₋C₇ cycloalkyl-C₁₋C₇alkyl; phenyl-C₁₋C₇alkyl or aryl. R₄ is particularly methyl, ethyl, butyl, isopropyl, t-butyl, or cyclohexyl; —CH₂-cyclopentyl, —CH₂-cyclohexyl; —CH₂-cyclopropyl; phenyl or —CH₂-phenyl; R₅ is H; U has the structure of formula II wherein X is N; R₆, R′₆, R₇, and R′₇ are H; n is O; Rc is H; Ar₁ and Ar₂ are substituted or unsubstituted phenyl or het particularly pyrimidine, pyridine, oxazole, 2-methyloxazole; and D is —O—.
 11. A compound according to claim 1 wherein R₁ and R₃ are preferably methyl or ethyl; R₂ is especially H, methyl, ethyl, chloromethyl, dichloromethyl or trifluoromethyl; R₄ is C₁-C₄alkyl or C₃-C₇ cycloalkyl particularly isopropyl, t-butyl, cyclopentyl, or cyclohexyl; R₅ is H; U has the structure of formula II wherein X is N; R₆, R′₆, R₇, and R′₇ are H; n is O; Rc is H; Ar₁ and Ar₂ are substituted or unsubstituted phenyl or het; and D is S, S(O), or S(O)₂.
 12. A compound according to claim 1 wherein R₁ and R₃ are preferably methyl or ethyl; R₂ is especially H, methyl, ethyl, chloromethyl, dichloromethyl or trifluoromethyl; R₄ is C₁-C₄alkyl or C₃-C₇ cycloalkyl particularly isopropyl, t-butyl, cyclopentyl, or cyclohexyl; R₅ is H; U has the structure of formula II wherein X is N; R₆, R′₆, R₇, and R′₇ are H; n is O; Rc is H; Ar₁ and Ar₂ are substituted or unsubstituted phenyl or het, particularly oxazole, thaizole and ozadiazole; and D is C(O), or 1,3-dioxolane.
 13. A compound according to claim 1 wherein R₁ and R₃ are preferably methyl or ethyl; R₂ is especially H, methyl, ethyl, chloromethyl, dichloromethyl or trifluoromethyl; R₄ is C₁-C₄alkyl or C₃-C₇ cycloalkyl particularly isopropyl, t-butyl, cyclopentyl, or cyclohexyl; R₅ is H or phenyl C₁-C₁₀ alkyl such as phenylethyl; U has the structure of formula II wherein X is N; R₆, R′₆, R₇, and R′₇ are H; n is O; Rc and Rd are het, particularly pyrrolidine; pyrrolidin-2-one; or pyrrolidin-3-one.
 14. A compound according to claim 1 wherein R₁ and R₃ are preferably methyl or ethyl; R₂ is especially H, methyl, ethyl, chloromethyl, dichloromethyl or trifluoromethyl; R₄ is C₁-C₄alkyl or C₃-C₇ cycloalkyl particularly isopropyl, t-butyl, cyclopentyl, or cyclohexyl; R₅ is H, indanyl or phenyl; U has the structure of formula II wherein X is N; Q is O; R₆, R′₆, R₇, and R′₇ are H; n is O; Re is C₁ alkyl; and p and q are
 0. 15. A compound according to claim 1 wherein R₁ and R₃ are preferably methyl or ethyl; R₂ is especially H, methyl, ethyl, chloromethyl, dichloromethyl or trifluoromethyl; R₄ is C₁-C₄alkyl or C₃-C₇ cycloalkyl particularly isopropyl, t-butyl, cyclopentyl, or cyclohexyl; R₅ is H, indanyl or phenyl; U has the structure of formula II wherein X is N; Q is N; R₆, R′₆, R₇, and R′₇ are H; n is O; Re is C₁ alkyl; and R_(g) is H, C₁-C₈ alkyl, methyl, ethyl, hexyl, heptyl, octyl, or CH₂CF₃, or aryl-C₁₋C₄ alkyl particularly phenylethyl, furanylethyl; C₃-C₇ cycloalkyl particularly cyclohexyl; ethylphenyl; —C(O) —C₁-C₄-alkyl-phenyl; —C(O) —C₁-C₄-alkyl; —C₁-C₄-alkyl-aryl particularly —CH₂-phenyl; —CH₂-thiophene, —CH₂-furan, —CH₂-pyrrolidinyl, —CH₂-imidazole, —CH₂-triazole, —CH₂-imidazole; and R_(f) is C₁-C₂ alkyl; C₁-C₂ alkylphenyl; —SO₂₋C₁₋C₂alkyl; —SO₂₋C₁₋C₂alkylphenyl; —O—C₁-C₄-alkyl particularly O-ethyl; phenyl-phenyl, 1,2,3,4tetrahydronapthalene and indanyl.
 16. A compound according to claim 1 wherein R₁ and R₃ are preferably methyl or ethyl; R₂ is especially H, methyl, ethyl, chloromethyl, dichloromethyl or trifluoromethyl; R₄ is C₁-C₄alkyl or C₃-C₇ cycloalkyl particularly isopropyl, t-butyl, cyclopentyl, or cyclohexyl; R₅ is H, indanyl or phenyl; U has the structure of formula II wherein X is N; Q is N; R₆, R′₆, R₇, and R′₇ are H; n is O; Re is C₁ alkyl; and R_(g) and R_(f) form a ring selected from het or aryl particularly 2,3,4,5-tetrahydrobenzo[c]azepine; 1,2,3,4 tetrahydroquinoline; indanyl which may be substituted with C₁-C₄alkylphenyl
 17. A compound according to claim 1 wherein R₁ and R₃ are preferably methyl or ethyl; R₂ is especially H, methyl, ethyl, chloromethyl, dichloromethyl or trifluoromethyl; R₄ is C₁-C₄alkyl or C₃-C₇ cycloalkyl particularly isopropyl, t-butyl, cyclopentyl, or cyclohexyl; R₅ is phenyl; U has the structure of formula II wherein X is N; Q is O, S, S(O) or S(O)₂; R₆, R′₆, R₇, and R′₇ are H; n is O; Re is C₁ alkyl; q is 0; Rc is H; and R_(f) is C₂ alkyl.
 18. A compound according to claim 1 wherein R₃ and R₄ have the stereochemistry indicated in formula IV, with the definitions of the variable substituents and preferences described herein above also applying to compounds having the stereochemistry indicated in formula IV:


19. A compound according to claim 18 wherein compound with the stereochemistry of formula (IV) wherein R₁ and R₃ are preferably methyl or ethyl; R₂ is H, methyl, ethyl, or substituted methyl especially chloromethyl, dichloromethyl and trifluoromethyl; preferably R₂ is H or unsubstituted methyl; R₄ is C₁-C₄alkyl or C₃-C₇ cycloalkyl particularly isopropyl, t-butyl, cyclopentyl, or cyclohexyl; R₅ is —C₁-C₄-alkyl-phenyl, particularly phenylmethyl, phenylethyl and phenylpropyl, indanyl, naphthyl; and R₆ and R₇ are H or methyl.
 20. A compound according to claim 1 wherein the stereochemistry for U is as shown in Figure V


21. A pharmaceutical composition which comprises a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier and a therapeutically effective amount of a compound of formula I according to claim
 1. 22. A method of treating a proliferative disease which comprises administering a therapeutically effective amount of a compound of formula I according to claim 1 to a mammal in need of such treatment.
 23. A method of claim 22 wherein the mammal is a human.
 24. A compound selected from: N-[1-Cyclohexyl-2-oxo-2-(6-phenethyl-octahydro-pyrrolo[2,3-c]pyridin-1-yl)-ethyl]-2-methylamino-acetamide; 2-Methylamino-N-[2-methyl-1-(7-oxo-6-phenethyl-octahydro-pyrrolo[2,3-c]pyridine-1-carbonyl)-propyl]-propionamide; 2-Methylamino-N-[2-methyl-1-(7-oxo-6-phenethyl-octahydro-pyrrolo[2,3-c]pyridine-1-carbonyl)-propyl]-propionamide; 2-Methylamino-N-[2-methyl-1-(8-oxo-7-phenethyl-octahydro-pyrrolo[2,3-c]azepine-1-carbonyl)-propyl]-propionamide; 2-Methylamino-N-[2-methyl-1-(7-oxo-6-phenethyl-octahydro-pyrrolo[2,3-c]pyridine-1-carbonyl)-propyl]-butyramide; 2-Methylamino-N-[2-methyl-1-(7-oxo-6-phenethyl-octahydro-pyrrolo[2,3-c]pyridine-1-carbonyl)-propyl]-butyramide; 2-Methylamino-N-[2-methyl-1-(8-oxo-7-phenethyl-octahydro-pyrrolo[2,3-c]azepine-1-carbonyl)-propyl]-butyramide; N-[1-Cyclohexyl-2-oxo-2-(7-oxo-6-phenethyl-octahydro-pyrrolo[2,3-c]pyridin-1-yl)-ethyl]-2-methylamino-propionamide; 2-Methylamino-N-{2-methyl-1-[5-(3-methyl-hexa-3,5-dienyl)-6-oxo-hexahydro-pyrrolo[3,4-b]pyrrole-1-carbonyl]-propyl}-propionamide; 2-Methylamino-N-[2-methyl-1-(3-methyl-7-oxo-6-phenethyl-octahydro-pyrrolo[2,3-c]pyridine-1-carbonyl)-propyl]-propionamide; 2-Methylamino-N-[2-methyl-1-(3-methyl-7-oxo-6-phenethyl-octahydro-pyrrolo[2,3-c]pyridine-1-carbonyl)-propyl]-propionamide; N-[1-(4-Benzyloxy-7-oxo-6-phenethyl-octahydro-pyrrolo[2,3-c]pyridine-1-carbonyl)-2-methyl-propyl]-2-methylamino-propionamide; N-[1-Cyclohexyl-2-oxo-2-(8-oxo-7-phenethyl-octahydro-pyrrolo[2,3-c]azepin-1-yl)-ethyl]-2-methylamino-butyramide; N-[1-Cyclohexyl-2-oxo-2-(8-oxo-7-phenethyl-octahydro-pyrrolo[2,3-c]azepin-1-yl)-ethyl]-2-methylamino-butyramide; N-[1-Cyclohexyl-2-oxo-2-(7-phenethyl-octahydro-pyrrolo[2,3-c]azepin-1-yl)-ethyl]-2-methylamino-propionamide; 2-Methylamino-N-[2-methyl-1-(8-oxo-7-phenethyl-octahydro-pyrrolo[2,3-c]azepine-1-carbonyl)-propyl]-butyramide; (S)-N-{(S)-2-[(R)-2-(3-Benzyl-phenyl)-pyrrolidin-1-yl]-1-cyclohexyl-2-oxo-ethyl}-2-methylamino-propionamide; (S)-N-{(S)-2-[(S)-2-(3-Benzyl-phenyl)-pyrrolidin-1-yl]-1-cyclohexyl-2-oxo-ethyl}-2-methylamino-propionamide; (S)-2-Methylamino-N-((S)-2-methyl-1-{(S)-2-[3-(methyl-phenyl-amino)-phenyl]-pyrrolidine-1-carbonyl}-propyl)-propionamide; (S)-N-((S)-1-Cyclohexyl-2-{(S)-2-[3-(methyl-phenyl-amino)-phenyl]-pyrrolidin-1-yl}-2-oxo-ethyl)-2-methylamino-propionamide; (S)-N-((S)-1-Cyclohexyl-2-{(R)-2-[3-(methyl-phenyl-amino)-phenyl]-pyrrolidin-1-yl}-2-oxo-ethyl)-2-methylamino-propionamide; (S)-N-{(S)-1-Cyclohexyl-2-oxo-2-[(R)-2-(3-phenoxy-phenyl)-pyrrolidin-1-yl]-ethyl}-2-methylamino-propionamide; (S)-N-{(S)-1-Cyclohexyl-2-oxo-2-[(S)-2-(3-phenoxy-phenyl)-pyrrolidin-1-yl]-ethyl}-2-methylamino-propionamide; (S)-N-{(S)-1-Cyclohexyl-2-oxo-2-[(R)-2-(3-phenylsulfanyl-phenyl)-pyrrolidin-1-yl]-ethyl}-2-methylamino-propionamide; (S)-N-{(S)-1-Cyclohexyl-2-oxo-2-[(S)-2-(3-phenylsulfanyl-phenyl)-pyrrolidin-1-yl]-ethyl}-2-methylamino-propionamide; (S)-N-{(S)-2-[(R)-2-(3-Benzenesulfonyl-phenyl)-pyrrolidin-1-yl]-1-cyclohexyl-2-oxo-ethyl}-2-methylamino-propionamide; (S)-N-{(S)-2-[(S)-2-(2-Benzyl-2 H-tetrazol-5-yl)-pyrrolidin-1-yl]-1-cyclohexyl-2-oxo-ethyl}-2-methylamino-propionamide; (S)-N-{(S)-2-[(S)-2-(2-Benzyl-2H-tetrazol-5-yl)-pyrrolidin-1-yl]-1-cyclohexyl-2-oxo-ethyl}-2-methylamino-butyramide; (S)-N-{(S)-2-[(S)-2-(1-Benzyl-1H-tetrazol-5-yl)-pyrrolidin-1-yl]-1-cyclohexyl-2-oxo-ethyl}-2-methylamino-propionamide; (S)-N-{(S)-2-[(S)-2-(1-Benzyl-1H-tetrazol-5-yl)-pyrrolidin-1-yl]-1-cyclohexyl-2-oxo-ethyl}-2-methylamino-butyramide; (S)-N-{(S)-2-[2-(Benzyloxyimino-hyl)-pyrrolidin-1-yl]-1-cyclohexyl-2-oxo-ethyl}-2-methylamino-propionamide; (S)-2-Methylamino-N-{(S)-2-methyl-1-[2-((S)-phenylmethanesulfonylamino-methyl)-pyrrolidine-1-carbonyl]-propyl}-propionamide; (S)-2-Methylamino-N-{(S)-2-methyl-1-[2-((S)-phenylmethanesulfonylamino-methyl)-pyrrolidine-1-carbonyl]-propyl}-butyramide; N-(1-Cyclohexyl-2-{(S)-2-[(ethyl-indan-2-yl-amino)-methyl]-pyrrolidin-1-yl}-2-oxo-ethyl)-2-((S)-methylamino)-propionamide; (S)-N-[(S)-1-Cyclohexyl-2-(2-{[(S)-indan-2-yl-(2,2,2-trifluoro-ethyl)-amino]-methyl}-pyrrolidin-1-yl)-2-oxo-ethyl]-2-methylamino-propionamide; (S)-N-((S)-1-Cyclohexyl-2-{2-[((S)-cyclohexyl-phenethyl-amino)-methyl]-pyrrolidin-1-yl}-2-oxo-ethyl)-2-methylamino-propionamide; (S)-N-((S)-2-{2-[((S)-tert-Butyl-phenethyl-amino)-methyl]-pyrrolidin-1-yl}-1-cyclohexyl-2-oxo-ethyl)-2-methylamino-propionamide; (S)-N-((S)-1-Cyclohexyl-2-{2-[((S)-furan-2-ylmethyl-phenethyl-amino)-methyl]-pyrrolidin-1-yl}-2-oxo-ethyl)-2-methylamino-propionamide; (S)-N-[(S)-1-Cyclohexyl-2-oxo-2-(2-{[(S)-phenethyl-(4-phenyl-butyl)-amino]-methyl}-pyrrolidin-1-yl)-ethyl]-2-methylamino-propionamide; (S)-N-[(S)-1-Cyclohexyl-2-(2-{[(S)-methyl-(4-phenyl-butyl)-amino]-methyl}-pyrrolidin-1-yl)-2-oxo-ethyl]-2-methylamino-propionamide; N-[(S)-1-(S)-Cyclohexyl-2-oxo-2-((R)-6-phenethyl-octahydro-pyrrolo[2,3-c]pyridin-1-yl)-ethyl]-acetamide; (S)-N-[(S)-1-(S)-Cyclohexyl-2-oxo-2-((R)-6-phenethyl-octahydro-pyrrolo[2,3-c]pyridin-1-yl)-ethyl]-2-methylamino-butyramide; (S)-2-Methylamino-N-[(S)-2-methyl-1-((R)-6-phenethyl-octahydro-pyrrolo[2,3-c]pyridine-1-carbonyl)-propyl]-propionamide; (S)-N-[(S)-2,2-Dimethyl-1-((R)-6-phenethyl-octahydro-pyrrolo[2,3-c]pyridine-1-carbonyl)-propyl]-2-methylamino-propionamide; (S)-2-Methylamino-N-[(S)-2-methyl-1-((R)-6-phenethyl-octahydro-pyrrolo[2,3-c]pyridine-1-carbonyl)-propyl]-butyramide; (S)-N-[(S)-2,2-Dimethyl-1-((3aR,7aS)-6-phenethyl-octahydro-pyrrolo[2,3-c]pyridine-1-carbonyl)-propyl]-2-methylamino-propionamide; (S)-N-((S)-1-Cyclohexyl-2-oxo-2-{(3aR,7aS)-6-[2-(2-trifluoromethoxy-phenyl)-ethyl]-octahydro-pyrrolo[2,3-c]pyridin-1-yl}-ethyl)-2-methylamino-propionamide; (S)-N-((S)-1-Cyclohexyl-2-oxo-2-{(3aR,7aS)-6-[2-(3-trifluoromethoxy-phenyl)-ethyl]-octahydro-pyrrolo[2,3-c]pyridin-1-yl}-ethyl)-2-methylamino-propionamide; (S)-N-[(S)-1-Cyclohexyl-2-oxo-2-((3aR,6aR)-5-phenethyl-hexahydro-pyrrolo[3,4-b]pyrrol-1-yl)-ethyl]-2-methylamino-butyramide; (S)-N-[(S)-1-Cyclohexyl-2-oxo-2-((3aS,6aS)-5-phenethyl-hexahydro-pyrrolo[3,4-b]pyrrol-1-yl)-ethyl]-2-methylamino-butyramide; (S)-N-[(S)-1-Cyclohexyl-2-oxo-2-((3aS,6aS)-5-phenethyl-hexahydro-pyrrolo[3,4-b]pyrrol-1-yl)-ethyl]-2-methylamino-propionamide; (S)-N-[(S)-1-Cyclohexyl-2-oxo-2-((3aS,6aS)-6-oxo-5-phenethyl-hexahydro-pyrrolo[3,4-b]pyrrol-1-yl)-ethyl]-2-methylamino-butyramide; (S)-N-[(R)-1-Cyclohexyl-2-oxo-2-((3aS,6aS)-6-oxo-5-phenethyl-hexahydro-pyrrolo[3,4-b]pyrrol-1-yl)-ethyl]-2-methylamino-butyramide; (S)-N-[(S)-1-Cyclohexyl-2-oxo-2-((3aS,6aS)-6-oxo-5-phenethyl-hexahydro-pyrrolo[3,4-b]pyrrol-1-yl)-ethyl]-2-methylamino-propionamide; (S)-N-[(R)-1-Cyclohexyl-2-oxo-2-((3aS,6aS)-6-oxo-5-phenethyl-hexahydro-pyrrolo[3,4-b]pyrrol-1-yl)-ethyl]-2-methylamino-propionamide; (S)-N-[(S)-1-(R)-Cyclohexyl-2-oxo-2-((S)-7-phenethyl-octahydro-pyrrolo[2,3-c]azepin-1-yl)-ethyl]-2-methylamino-propionamide; (S)-N-[(S)-1-(S)-Cyclohexyl-2-oxo-2-((R)-8-oxo-7-phenethyl-octahydro-pyrrolo[2,3-c]azepin-1-yl)-ethyl]-2-methylamino-butyramide; and pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof.
 25. A compound selected from N-[1-cyclohexyl-2-oxo-2-(6-phenethyl-octahydro-pyrrolo[2,3-c]pyridin-1-yl)-ethyl]-2-methylamino-propionamide; N-{1-cyclohexyl-2-oxo-2-(2-(3-phenoxy-phenyl)pyrrolidin-1-yl]-ethyl}-2-methylamino-propionamide; N-[1-cyclohexyl-2-oxo-2-(7-phenethyl-octahydro-pyrrolo[2,3-c]azepin-1-yl)-ethyl]-2-methylaminopropionamide; (S)-N-((S)-1-Cyclohexyl-2-{(2S,3R)-2-[(ethyl-phenethyl-amino)-methyl]-3-methyl-pyrrolidin-1-yl}-2-oxo-ethyl)-2-methylamino-propionamide; N-{2-[2-(2-benzyl-2H-tetrazol-5-yl)-pyrrolidin-1-yl]-cyclohexyl-2-oxo-ethyl}-2-methylamino-butyramide; N-{2-[2-Benxyloxyimino-methyl)-pyrrolidin-1-yl}-1-cyclohexyl-2-oxo-ethyl-2-methylamino-propionamide; and pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof.
 26. A compound selected from (S)-N-{(S)-1-Cyclohexyl-2-oxo-2-[(S)-2-(3-phenoxy-phenyl)-pyrrolidin-1-yl]-ethyl}-2-methylamino-propionamide; (S)-N-{(S)-1-Cyclohexyl-2-oxo-2-[(S)-2-(3-phenylsulfanyl-phenyl)-pyrrolidin-1-yl]-ethyl}-2-methylamino-propionamide; (S)-N-{(S)-2-[(S)-2-(2-Benzyl-2H-tetrazol-5-yl)-pyrrolidin-1-yl]-1-cyclohexyl-2-oxo-ethyl}-2-methylamino-propionamide; (S)-N-{(S)-2-[(S)-2-(2-Benzyl-2H-tetrazol-5-yl)-pyrrolidin-1-yl]-1-cyclohexyl-2-oxo-ethyl}-2-methylamino-butyramide; (S)-N-{(S)-2-[(S)-2-(1-Benzyl-1H-tetrazol-5-yl)-pyrrolidin-1-yl]-1-cyclohexyl-2-oxo-ethyl}-2-methylamino-propionamide; (S)-N-{(S)-2-[(S)-2-(1-Benzyl-1H-tetrazol-5-yl)-pyrrolidin-1-yl]-1-cyclohexyl-2-oxo-ethyl}-2-methylamino-butyramide; and pharmaceutically accpetable salts thereof
 27. A compound according to claim 1 wherein R₃ and R₄ have the stereochemistry indicated in formula IV, with the definitions of the variable substituents and preferences described herein above also applying to compounds having the stereochemistry indicated in formula IVb-d: 